Private Advisor Group LLC Lowers Stock Position in 3M Company (NYSE:MMM)

Private Advisor Group LLC cut its holdings in shares of 3M Company (NYSE:MMM - Free Report) by 48.5% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 105,803 shares of the conglomerate's stock after selling 99,784 shares during the period. Private Advisor Group LLC's holdings in 3M were worth $15,538,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of MMM. LaSalle St. Investment Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of 3M by 2.5% during the 4th quarter. LaSalle St. Investment Advisors LLC now owns 2,951 shares of the conglomerate's stock worth $381,000 after buying an additional 71 shares during the period. TCV Trust & Wealth Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of 3M by 1.1% during the 1st quarter. TCV Trust & Wealth Management Inc. now owns 6,497 shares of the conglomerate's stock worth $954,000 after buying an additional 73 shares during the period. Cahaba Wealth Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of 3M by 1.4% during the 1st quarter. Cahaba Wealth Management Inc. now owns 5,580 shares of the conglomerate's stock worth $819,000 after buying an additional 75 shares during the period. Altman Advisors Inc. raised its position in 3M by 0.5% in the 1st quarter. Altman Advisors Inc. now owns 16,690 shares of the conglomerate's stock valued at $2,318,000 after purchasing an additional 76 shares during the last quarter. Finally, NBT Bank N A NY raised its position in 3M by 0.8% in the 1st quarter. NBT Bank N A NY now owns 9,744 shares of the conglomerate's stock valued at $1,431,000 after purchasing an additional 79 shares during the last quarter. 65.25% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MMM has been the subject of several research reports. Weiss Ratings reissued a "hold (c+)" rating on shares of 3M in a research note on Saturday, July 12th. Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their price objective on 3M from $98.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an "underperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company reaffirmed an "overweight" rating on shares of 3M in a research note on Friday. Citigroup boosted 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. Finally, Barclays set a $170.00 target price on 3M in a research note on Friday. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and nine have given 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 $156.33.

Insider Activity at 3M

In other 3M news, EVP Zoe L. Dickson sold 7,915 shares of 3M stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $149.02, for a total value of $1,179,493.30. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 6,127 shares in the company, valued at approximately $913,045.54. The trade was a 56.37% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP John Patrick Banovetz sold 7,759 shares of 3M stock in a transaction on Friday, May 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $148.37, for a total transaction of $1,151,202.83. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 31,372 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,654,663.64. The trade was a 19.83% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.34% of the company's stock.

3M Price Performance

Shares of MMM traded down $5.23 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $153.81. 11,699,665 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,841,190. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $149.91 and a 200 day moving average price of $145.54. The company has a market cap of $82.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.39, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.98 and a beta of 1.02. The company has a current ratio of 1.66, a quick ratio of 1.25 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.72. 3M Company has a 1 year low of $101.77 and a 1 year high of $164.15.

3M (NYSE:MMM - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, July 18th. The conglomerate reported $2.16 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.01 by $0.15. The firm had revenue of $6.16 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.09 billion. 3M had a net margin of 17.79% and a return on equity of 96.19%. The company's quarterly revenue was up 1.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.93 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts predict that 3M Company will post 7.8 earnings per share for the current year.

3M Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 12th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 23rd were issued a dividend of $0.73 per share. This represents a $2.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.90%. 3M's payout ratio is 36.87%.

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.