3M (NYSE:MMM) Shares Sold by Prestige Wealth Management Group LLC

Prestige Wealth Management Group LLC lessened its stake in shares of 3M (NYSE:MMM) by 38.2% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 406 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after selling 251 shares during the quarter. Prestige Wealth Management Group LLC’s holdings in 3M were worth $52,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of MMM. Financial Life Planners purchased a new position in 3M during the 4th quarter worth $25,000. Proficio Capital Partners LLC purchased a new position in 3M during the fourth quarter worth about $26,000. FSA Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in 3M in the third quarter valued at about $27,000. Daymark Wealth Partners LLC boosted its holdings in 3M by 9.0% in the 4th quarter. Daymark Wealth Partners LLC now owns 237,297 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 19,552 shares in the last quarter. Finally, ORG Partners LLC increased its position in 3M by 44.1% during the 4th quarter. ORG Partners LLC now owns 320 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $41,000 after purchasing an additional 98 shares during the period. 65.25% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MMM has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Bank of America raised their price target on 3M from $175.00 to $179.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, March 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on 3M from $162.00 to $165.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded 3M from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $140.00 to $170.00 in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Citigroup lifted their price target on 3M from $142.00 to $152.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of 3M in a research note on Saturday. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $149.13.

3M Stock Performance

Shares of MMM opened at $153.53 on Wednesday. 3M has a 1 year low of $85.62 and a 1 year high of $156.35. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $149.05 and its 200 day simple moving average is $137.88. The company has a market capitalization of $83.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.34, a PEG ratio of 3.30 and a beta of 0.97. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.86, a quick ratio of 1.08 and a current ratio of 1.41.

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

3M Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 12th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 14th were issued a $0.73 dividend. This is a boost from 3M’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.70. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 14th. This represents a $2.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.90%. 3M’s payout ratio is 38.68%.

Insider Activity

In other 3M news, EVP Victoria Clarke sold 1,750 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $154.22, for a total transaction of $269,885.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 194 shares in the company, valued at $29,918.68. This represents a 90.02 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Christian T. Goralski, Jr. sold 6,318 shares of 3M stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $149.43, for a total value of $944,098.74. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 5,024 shares in the company, valued at $750,736.32. This represents a 55.70 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 113,639 shares of company stock valued at $17,163,446 in the last 90 days. 0.34% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

3M Company 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.