Sage Mountain Advisors LLC Cuts Position in 3M (NYSE:MMM)

Sage Mountain Advisors LLC lessened its position in shares of 3M (NYSE:MMM) by 5.3% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 2,248 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after selling 126 shares during the quarter. Sage Mountain Advisors LLC’s holdings in 3M were worth $290,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. D.A. Davidson & CO. grew its holdings in 3M by 16.2% during the 3rd quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. now owns 146,333 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $20,004,000 after buying an additional 20,421 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of 3M by 26.8% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 845,401 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $114,770,000 after purchasing an additional 178,450 shares during the period. Meyer Handelman Co. boosted its holdings in shares of 3M by 1.4% in the 4th quarter. Meyer Handelman Co. now owns 197,618 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $25,511,000 after purchasing an additional 2,678 shares during the period. FMR LLC boosted its holdings in shares of 3M by 88.7% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 8,961,866 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $1,225,087,000 after purchasing an additional 4,212,409 shares during the period. Finally, USA Financial Formulas purchased a new position in shares of 3M in the 4th quarter worth approximately $816,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 65.25% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MMM has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on 3M from $162.00 to $165.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of 3M in a research report on Friday, March 7th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “underperform” rating and issued a $96.00 price target on shares of 3M in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. UBS Group raised 3M from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $130.00 to $184.00 in a research report on Wednesday, November 13th. Finally, Citigroup upped their target price on 3M from $142.00 to $152.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $149.13.

Insider Transactions at 3M

In other news, CAO Theresa E. Reinseth sold 2,309 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $149.95, for a total value of $346,234.55. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 4,417 shares in the company, valued at $662,329.15. This represents a 34.33 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, 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 value of $269,885.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 194 shares in the company, valued at $29,918.68. The trade was a 90.02 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 113,639 shares of company stock worth $17,163,446 over the last quarter. 0.38% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

3M Stock Up 1.9 %

3M stock opened at $150.29 on Thursday. 3M has a fifty-two week low of $82.94 and a fifty-two week high of $156.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.86, a quick ratio of 1.08 and a current ratio of 1.41. The company has a market cap of $81.59 billion, a PE ratio of 19.91, a PEG ratio of 3.30 and a beta of 0.97. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $145.68 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $136.63.

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

3M Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 12th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 14th were paid a $0.73 dividend. This is an increase from 3M’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.70. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 14th. This represents a $2.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.94%. 3M’s dividend payout ratio is presently 38.68%.

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.