3M (NYSE:MMM) Shares Sold by First Horizon Advisors Inc.

First Horizon Advisors Inc. lowered its stake in shares of 3M (NYSE:MMM) by 7.4% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 10,288 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after selling 820 shares during the period. First Horizon Advisors Inc.’s holdings in 3M were worth $1,328,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MMM. Pinnacle Financial Partners Inc boosted its stake in shares of 3M by 2.3% during the 4th quarter. Pinnacle Financial Partners Inc now owns 13,157 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $1,745,000 after purchasing an additional 300 shares during the last quarter. Winebrenner Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of 3M during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $516,000. Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators boosted its position in 3M by 5.9% during the fourth quarter. Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators now owns 9,475 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $1,223,000 after acquiring an additional 529 shares during the last quarter. Drum Hill Capital LLC purchased a new stake in 3M in the 4th quarter worth approximately $217,000. Finally, Paradigm Asset Management Co. LLC purchased a new stake in 3M in the 4th quarter worth approximately $749,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 65.25% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on MMM shares. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “underperform” rating and set a $96.00 price objective on shares of 3M in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Bank of America lifted their price target on 3M from $160.00 to $175.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of 3M from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $140.00 to $170.00 in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. UBS Group upgraded shares of 3M from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $130.00 to $184.00 in a report on Wednesday, November 13th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of 3M from $162.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $148.87.

3M Trading Down 2.8 %

NYSE:MMM opened at $144.87 on Monday. 3M has a 12 month low of $75.40 and a 12 month high of $155.00. The business’s 50-day moving average is $140.62 and its two-hundred day moving average is $134.71. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.86, a current ratio of 1.41 and a quick ratio of 1.08. The firm has a market capitalization of $78.65 billion, a PE ratio of 19.19, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.30 and a beta of 0.96.

3M (NYSE:MMM) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, January 21st. The conglomerate reported $1.68 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.66 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $6.01 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.77 billion. 3M had a net margin of 15.71% and a return on equity of 100.77%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 25.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.42 earnings per share. Research analysts predict that 3M will post 7.8 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

3M Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 12th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 14th will be given a dividend of $0.73 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 14th. This represents a $2.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.02%. This is an increase from 3M’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.70. 3M’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 38.68%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Victoria Clarke sold 1,750 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $154.22, for a total value of $269,885.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 194 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $29,918.68. This represents a 90.02 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Christian T. Goralski, Jr. sold 6,318 shares of 3M stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $149.43, for a total value of $944,098.74. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 5,024 shares in the company, valued at approximately $750,736.32. The trade was a 55.70 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 113,639 shares of company stock worth $17,163,446. Insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

About 3M

3M Company provides diversified technology services in the United States and internationally. The company’s Safety and Industrial segment offers industrial abrasives and finishing for metalworking applications; autobody repair solutions; closure systems for personal hygiene products, masking, and packaging materials; electrical products and materials for construction and maintenance, power distribution, and electrical original equipment manufacturers; structural adhesives and tapes; respiratory, hearing, eye, and fall protection solutions; and natural and color-coated mineral granules for shingles.