Regatta Capital Group LLC Trims Stake in 3M (NYSE:MMM)

Regatta Capital Group LLC cut its stake in 3M (NYSE:MMM) by 73.9% in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,614 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after selling 7,410 shares during the quarter. Regatta Capital Group LLC’s holdings in 3M were worth $357,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in 3M by 0.8% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 49,461,361 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $5,246,367,000 after buying an additional 377,703 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its stake in shares of 3M by 11.8% during the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 5,065,242 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $517,617,000 after acquiring an additional 533,520 shares in the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. grew its position in shares of 3M by 2.0% during the 2nd quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 4,952,878 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $506,135,000 after acquiring an additional 97,340 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of 3M by 18.6% in the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 2,531,422 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $258,686,000 after purchasing an additional 396,773 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB raised its holdings in 3M by 8.2% in the 1st quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 2,168,811 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $228,875,000 after purchasing an additional 164,236 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 65.25% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have commented on MMM. StockNews.com lowered 3M from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, July 29th. Bank of America lifted their price target on shares of 3M from $120.00 to $143.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, July 29th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of 3M from $130.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, October 7th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their target price on shares of 3M from $93.00 to $95.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research report on Monday, July 29th. Finally, Barclays upped their price target on shares of 3M from $145.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, 3M presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $127.64.

3M Price Performance

MMM stock opened at $135.75 on Wednesday. 3M has a 1 year low of $71.12 and a 1 year high of $140.72. The firm has a market capitalization of $75.12 billion, a PE ratio of -10.67, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.49 and a beta of 0.95. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.95, a current ratio of 1.36 and a quick ratio of 1.08. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $131.97 and a 200-day simple moving average of $111.97.

3M (NYSE:MMM) last issued its earnings results on Friday, July 26th. The conglomerate reported $1.93 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.68 by $0.25. The business had revenue of $6.26 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.85 billion. 3M had a return on equity of 112.92% and a net margin of 3.08%. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.17 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that 3M will post 7.24 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

3M Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 12th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 26th were issued a $0.70 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 26th. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.06%. 3M’s payout ratio is -22.01%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO Theresa E. Reinseth sold 2,100 shares of 3M stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $124.12, for a total transaction of $260,652.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 4,364 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $541,659.68. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In other 3M news, Chairman Michael F. Roman sold 5,675 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $123.46, for a total transaction of $700,635.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman now owns 174,036 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $21,486,484.56. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CFO Theresa E. Reinseth sold 2,100 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $124.12, for a total transaction of $260,652.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 4,364 shares in the company, valued at $541,659.68. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate 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.