3M (NYSE:MMM) EVP Kevin H. Rhodes Sells 6,743 Shares

3M (NYSE:MMM) EVP Kevin H. Rhodes sold 6,743 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $149.85, for a total transaction of $1,010,438.55. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 4,902 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $734,564.70. This trade represents a 57.90 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link.

3M Trading Up 1.8 %

MMM opened at $154.31 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $134.20 and a 200 day simple moving average of $130.37. 3M has a fifty-two week low of $75.40 and a fifty-two week high of $154.65. The company has a market cap of $84.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.44, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.46 and a beta of 0.95. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.86, a current ratio of 1.41 and a quick ratio of 1.08.

3M (NYSE:MMM) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, January 21st. The conglomerate reported $1.68 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.66 by $0.02. 3M had a net margin of 15.71% and a return on equity of 100.77%. The company had revenue of $6.01 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.77 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.42 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 25.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that 3M will post 7.66 earnings per share for the current year.

3M Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, December 12th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 15th were given a dividend of $0.70 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 15th. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.81%. 3M’s payout ratio is currently 37.09%.

Institutional Trading of 3M

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of MMM. J.P. Marvel Investment Advisors LLC increased its stake in 3M by 30.3% in the fourth quarter. J.P. Marvel Investment Advisors LLC now owns 66,471 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $8,581,000 after purchasing an additional 15,457 shares in the last quarter. Secured Retirement Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of 3M by 5.2% in the 4th quarter. Secured Retirement Advisors LLC now owns 4,171 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $538,000 after buying an additional 208 shares during the period. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC bought a new stake in shares of 3M in the 4th quarter valued at $22,481,000. Allworth Financial LP raised its stake in 3M by 32.6% during the 4th quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 35,244 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $4,550,000 after buying an additional 8,658 shares during the period. Finally, Principal Securities Inc. raised its stake in 3M by 76.1% during the 4th quarter. Principal Securities Inc. now owns 12,022 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $1,552,000 after buying an additional 5,195 shares during the period. 65.25% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently commented on MMM. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of 3M in a research report on Saturday, January 18th. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of 3M from $161.00 to $165.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. Melius Research raised shares of 3M from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $180.00 price target for the company in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of 3M from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $140.00 to $170.00 in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on 3M from $162.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a 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 assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $148.87.

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.