Ritholtz Wealth Management Cuts Stock Position in 3M (NYSE:MMM)

Ritholtz Wealth Management reduced its position in 3M (NYSE:MMM) by 20.1% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 19,614 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after selling 4,933 shares during the quarter. Ritholtz Wealth Management’s holdings in 3M were worth $2,144,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of 3M by 0.7% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 49,033,679 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $4,590,533,000 after purchasing an additional 317,483 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in shares of 3M by 0.6% in the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 33,311,747 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $3,334,173,000 after purchasing an additional 196,238 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of 3M by 5.7% in the 1st quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 11,474,791 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $1,203,635,000 after acquiring an additional 619,370 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of 3M by 7.2% in the 1st quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 11,315,417 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $1,684,639,000 after acquiring an additional 758,126 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted its stake in shares of 3M by 8.3% in the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 10,769,973 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $1,291,535,000 after acquiring an additional 825,223 shares during the last quarter. 65.25% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Barclays raised 3M from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $111.00 to $126.00 in a research note on Tuesday, March 19th. StockNews.com assumed coverage on 3M in a research note on Wednesday. They issued a “buy” rating for the company. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on 3M from $112.00 to $105.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, January 24th. Mizuho reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $105.00 target price on shares of 3M in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, Citigroup lowered their price target on 3M from $117.00 to $104.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 24th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $107.60.

Insider Activity at 3M

In related news, insider Rodriguez Beatriz Karin Chavez sold 426 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $92.32, for a total transaction of $39,328.32. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 3,966 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $366,141.12. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 0.34% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

3M Stock Up 1.4 %

Shares of MMM traded up $1.46 on Thursday, reaching $106.05. The stock had a trading volume of 4,385,166 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,107,112. The firm has a market capitalization of $58.61 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -8.40, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.45 and a beta of 1.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.69, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a current ratio of 1.07. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $96.86 and a 200-day simple moving average of $97.78. 3M has a 12-month low of $85.35 and a 12-month high of $113.14.

3M (NYSE:MMM) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, January 23rd. The conglomerate reported $2.42 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.31 by $0.11. 3M had a positive return on equity of 62.45% and a negative net margin of 21.40%. The company had revenue of $8.01 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.69 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $2.28 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts predict that 3M will post 9.77 EPS for the current year.

3M Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 12th. Investors of record on Friday, February 16th were given a dividend of $1.51 per share. This represents a $6.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.70%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 15th. This is a positive change from 3M’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.50. 3M’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is -47.82%.

About 3M

3M Company provides diversified technology services in the United States and internationally. The company operates through four segments: Safety and Industrial; Transportation and Electronics; Health Care; and Consumer. The 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.