Berkshire Bank Sells 111 Shares of 3M (NYSE:MMM)

Berkshire Bank cut its position in shares of 3M (NYSE:MMM) by 5.9% during the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 1,771 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after selling 111 shares during the period. Berkshire Bank’s holdings in 3M were worth $260,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Investors Asset Management of Georgia Inc. GA ADV boosted its position in 3M by 1.3% during the 4th quarter. Investors Asset Management of Georgia Inc. GA ADV now owns 5,377 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $694,000 after acquiring an additional 67 shares in the last quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust boosted its position in 3M by 1.4% during the 4th quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 5,153 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $665,000 after acquiring an additional 70 shares in the last quarter. LaSalle St. Investment Advisors LLC boosted its position in 3M by 2.5% during the 4th quarter. LaSalle St. Investment Advisors LLC now owns 2,951 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $381,000 after acquiring an additional 71 shares in the last quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC boosted its position in 3M by 5.3% during the 4th quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC now owns 1,519 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $196,000 after acquiring an additional 77 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sapient Capital LLC boosted its position in 3M by 1.1% during the 1st quarter. Sapient Capital LLC now owns 7,792 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $1,144,000 after acquiring an additional 84 shares in the last quarter. 65.25% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

3M Stock Performance

Shares of MMM stock opened at $145.04 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $78.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.21, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.30 and a beta of 1.03. 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 business has a fifty day moving average of $142.60 and a 200 day moving average of $141.98. 3M has a 1 year low of $98.26 and a 1 year high of $156.35.

3M (NYSE:MMM) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 22nd. The conglomerate reported $1.88 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.77 by $0.11. The business had revenue of $5.80 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.78 billion. 3M had a return on equity of 100.77% and a net margin of 15.71%. As a group, research analysts expect that 3M will post 7.8 earnings per share for the current year.

3M Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 12th. Investors of record on Friday, May 23rd were paid a $0.73 dividend. This represents a $2.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.01%. 3M’s dividend payout ratio is presently 36.87%.

Insider Activity at 3M

In related news, EVP Zoe L. Dickson sold 7,915 shares of 3M stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $149.02, for a total value of $1,179,493.30. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 6,127 shares in the company, valued at $913,045.54. The trade was a 56.37% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP John Patrick Banovetz sold 7,759 shares of 3M stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $148.37, for a total value of $1,151,202.83. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 31,372 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,654,663.64. The trade was a 19.83% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.34% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have issued reports on MMM. Citigroup increased their target price on 3M from $141.00 to $160.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, May 30th. Bank of America raised their price objective on 3M from $175.00 to $179.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 6th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of 3M in a research report on Wednesday, June 11th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on 3M from $140.00 to $167.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, May 16th. Finally, Barclays raised their price objective on 3M from $160.00 to $164.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $155.83.

3M Profile

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.