3M (NYSE:MMM) Shares Sold by Penobscot Investment Management Company Inc.

Penobscot Investment Management Company Inc. lowered its stake in shares of 3M (NYSE:MMM) by 2.2% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 12,533 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after selling 288 shares during the period. Penobscot Investment Management Company Inc.’s holdings in 3M were worth $1,618,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Ariadne Wealth Management LP boosted its holdings in shares of 3M by 5.2% during the fourth quarter. Ariadne Wealth Management LP now owns 2,838 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $366,000 after purchasing an additional 141 shares during the last quarter. Zions Bancorporation N.A. lifted its holdings in shares of 3M by 254.0% during the 4th quarter. Zions Bancorporation N.A. now owns 446 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $58,000 after acquiring an additional 320 shares during the period. TIAA Trust National Association boosted its position in shares of 3M by 2.0% in the fourth quarter. TIAA Trust National Association now owns 55,071 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $7,109,000 after acquiring an additional 1,061 shares during the last quarter. CoreFirst Bank & Trust acquired a new position in 3M during the fourth quarter worth approximately $114,000. Finally, Prudential Financial Inc. raised its stake in 3M by 2.2% during the fourth quarter. Prudential Financial Inc. now owns 1,440,005 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $185,890,000 after purchasing an additional 30,506 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 65.25% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently commented on MMM shares. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “underperform” rating and set a $96.00 price objective on shares of 3M in a report on Thursday, February 27th. Bank of America lifted their price target on shares of 3M from $175.00 to $179.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 6th. Wells Fargo & Company raised 3M from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $140.00 to $170.00 in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of 3M in a research report on Saturday. Finally, Citigroup lifted their price objective on shares of 3M from $142.00 to $152.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. Two equities 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, 3M currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $149.13.

3M Price Performance

Shares of NYSE MMM opened at $153.53 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.41, a quick ratio of 1.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.86. The company has a market capitalization of $83.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.34, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.30 and a beta of 0.97. 3M has a twelve month low of $85.62 and a twelve month high of $156.35. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $149.05 and a 200-day simple moving average of $137.88.

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

3M Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 12th. Investors of record on Friday, February 14th were paid a dividend of $0.73 per share. This is a boost from 3M’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.70. This represents a $2.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.90%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 14th. 3M’s payout ratio is currently 38.68%.

Insider Activity at 3M

In related news, EVP Victoria Clarke sold 1,750 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $154.22, for a total transaction of $269,885.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 194 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $29,918.68. This trade represents a 90.02 % 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, insider Christian T. Goralski, Jr. sold 6,318 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $149.43, for a total transaction of $944,098.74. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 5,024 shares in the company, valued at approximately $750,736.32. This trade represents a 55.70 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 113,639 shares of company stock worth $17,163,446 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

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.