Ancora Advisors LLC Decreases Position in 3M Company $MMM

Key Points

• Ancora Advisors LLC has reduced its stake in 3M Company by 6.3%, owning 44,128 shares valued at approximately $6.48 million after selling 2,945 shares in the first quarter.
• 3M's shares opened at $151.91 with a market capitalization of $80.91 billion, and its quarterly earnings exceeded expectations, reporting a two-dollar and sixteen cents EPS.
• The company recently declared a quarterly dividend of $0.73, reflecting an annualized dividend yield of 1.9%, with a payout ratio of 40.61%.

Ancora Advisors LLC reduced its position in 3M Company (NYSE:MMM - Free Report) by 6.3% during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 44,128 shares of the conglomerate's stock after selling 2,945 shares during the period. Ancora Advisors LLC's holdings in 3M were worth $6,481,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Invesco Ltd. increased its stake in 3M by 0.7% during the first quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 4,498,809 shares of the conglomerate's stock worth $660,695,000 after acquiring an additional 30,260 shares during the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC increased its stake in 3M by 5.7% during the fourth quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 3,624,933 shares of the conglomerate's stock worth $467,944,000 after acquiring an additional 193,957 shares during the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased its stake in 3M by 6.8% during the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 3,122,020 shares of the conglomerate's stock worth $458,500,000 after acquiring an additional 199,944 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its stake in 3M by 18.0% during the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,516,729 shares of the conglomerate's stock worth $369,530,000 after acquiring an additional 383,539 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Deutsche Bank AG increased its stake in 3M by 10.0% during the first quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 1,722,505 shares of the conglomerate's stock worth $252,967,000 after acquiring an additional 156,060 shares during the last quarter. 65.25% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

3M Trading Down 0.1%

Shares of NYSE MMM traded down $0.23 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $155.29. The stock had a trading volume of 2,052,950 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,824,897. The company has a current ratio of 1.72, a quick ratio of 1.20 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.87. The firm has a market cap of $82.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.60, a P/E/G ratio of 3.00 and a beta of 1.04. The business's fifty day moving average price is $153.80 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $147.67. 3M Company has a 52-week low of $121.98 and a 52-week high of $164.15.

3M (NYSE:MMM - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, July 18th. The conglomerate reported $2.16 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.01 by $0.15. The firm had revenue of $6.16 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.09 billion. 3M had a return on equity of 96.48% and a net margin of 16.01%.3M's quarterly revenue was up 1.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.93 earnings per share. Analysts expect that 3M Company will post 7.8 EPS for the current fiscal year.

3M Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 12th. Investors of record on Monday, August 25th will be issued a $0.73 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, August 25th. This represents a $2.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.9%. 3M's payout ratio is presently 40.61%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have weighed in on MMM. JPMorgan Chase & Co. set a $167.00 price objective on 3M in a research note on Friday, July 18th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a "hold (c+)" rating on shares of 3M in a research note on Saturday, August 30th. Citigroup upped their target price on 3M from $141.00 to $160.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, May 30th. Wells Fargo & Company reaffirmed an "overweight" rating on shares of 3M in a research note on Friday, July 18th. Finally, Barclays set a $170.00 target price on 3M in a research note on Friday, July 18th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $161.78.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other 3M news, insider Christian T. Goralski, Jr. sold 6,165 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $150.18, for a total transaction of $925,859.70. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 2,900 shares in the company, valued at $435,522. This represents a 68.01% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CAO Theresa E. Reinseth sold 3,477 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $150.63, for a total value of $523,740.51. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer owned 2,561 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $385,763.43. This represents a 57.59% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.34% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.