Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd Sells 5,484 Shares of 3M (NYSE:MMM)

Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd reduced its stake in 3M (NYSE:MMM) by 53.3% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 4,809 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after selling 5,484 shares during the period. Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd’s holdings in 3M were worth $621,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. D.A. Davidson & CO. grew its stake in shares of 3M by 16.2% in the 3rd quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. now owns 146,333 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $20,004,000 after purchasing an additional 20,421 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its stake in shares of 3M by 26.8% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 845,401 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $114,770,000 after purchasing an additional 178,450 shares during the period. Meyer Handelman Co. grew its stake in shares of 3M by 1.4% in the 4th quarter. Meyer Handelman Co. now owns 197,618 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $25,511,000 after purchasing an additional 2,678 shares during the period. FMR LLC grew its stake in shares of 3M by 88.7% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 8,961,866 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $1,225,087,000 after purchasing an additional 4,212,409 shares during the period. Finally, USA Financial Formulas bought a new stake in shares of 3M in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $816,000. 65.25% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently commented on MMM. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “underperform” rating and set a $96.00 price target on shares of 3M in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded 3M from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $140.00 to $170.00 in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of 3M in a research report on Friday, March 7th. Bank of America increased their price target on 3M from $175.00 to $179.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 6th. Finally, Citigroup increased their price target on 3M from $142.00 to $152.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, 3M has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $149.13.

3M Stock Performance

MMM stock opened at $151.16 on Friday. The business’s fifty day moving average is $147.96 and its 200-day moving average is $137.36. The company has a quick ratio of 1.08, a current ratio of 1.41 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.86. The company has a market cap of $82.06 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.02, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.30 and a beta of 0.97. 3M has a twelve month low of $85.62 and a twelve month high of $156.35.

3M (NYSE:MMM) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 21st. The conglomerate reported $1.68 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.66 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $6.01 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.77 billion. 3M had a return on equity of 100.77% and a net margin of 15.71%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 25.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $2.42 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that 3M will post 7.8 EPS for the current year.

3M Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 12th. Investors of record on Friday, February 14th were paid a dividend of $0.73 per share. This represents a $2.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.93%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 14th. 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 related news, insider Rodriguez Beatriz Karin Chavez sold 1,645 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, January 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $150.25, for a total transaction of $247,161.25. Following the sale, the insider now owns 5,153 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $774,238.25. This trade represents a 24.20 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Christian T. Goralski, Jr. sold 6,318 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, January 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $149.43, for a total value of $944,098.74. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 5,024 shares in the company, valued at $750,736.32. The trade was a 55.70 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 113,639 shares of company stock valued at $17,163,446. 0.34% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.