Platform Technology Partners Sells 177 Shares of 3M (NYSE:MMM)

Platform Technology Partners cut its stake in shares of 3M (NYSE:MMM – Get Rating) by 3.6% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 4,743 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after selling 177 shares during the period. Platform Technology Partners’ holdings in 3M were worth $569,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the stock. State Street Corp lifted its stake in 3M by 0.3% during the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 32,685,523 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $4,229,834,000 after acquiring an additional 94,802 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in 3M by 7.2% during the 1st quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 11,315,417 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $1,684,639,000 after acquiring an additional 758,126 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp lifted its stake in 3M by 0.6% during the 1st quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 7,413,149 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $1,103,670,000 after acquiring an additional 44,714 shares in the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in 3M by 2.7% during the 3rd quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 6,363,356 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $703,151,000 after acquiring an additional 167,594 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc lifted its stake in 3M by 3.5% during the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 4,557,863 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $589,837,000 after acquiring an additional 155,110 shares in the last quarter. 65.61% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

3M Stock Performance

3M stock traded down $1.19 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $103.02. The stock had a trading volume of 11,385,779 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,731,396. 3M has a 12 month low of $100.27 and a 12 month high of $154.66. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $114.23 and its 200 day moving average price is $118.69. The firm has a market capitalization of $56.71 billion, a PE ratio of 10.15, a P/E/G ratio of 1.25 and a beta of 0.96. The company has a quick ratio of 0.98, a current ratio of 1.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.95.

3M (NYSE:MMM – Get Rating) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 24th. The conglomerate reported $2.28 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.34 by ($0.06). The firm had revenue of $8.10 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.09 billion. 3M had a net margin of 16.88% and a return on equity of 39.72%. The company’s revenue was down 5.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.31 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts predict that 3M will post 8.65 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

3M Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Sunday, March 12th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 17th were issued a dividend of $1.50 per share. This represents a $6.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.82%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 16th. This is a positive change from 3M’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.49. 3M’s payout ratio is presently 59.11%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on the company. Citigroup lifted their target price on 3M from $117.00 to $126.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, December 9th. Mizuho lowered their target price on 3M from $130.00 to $120.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 26th. StockNews.com assumed coverage on 3M in a research note on Thursday. They set a “hold” rating on the stock. UBS Group lowered their target price on 3M from $124.00 to $115.00 in a research note on Wednesday, January 25th. Finally, Barclays lowered their target price on 3M from $130.00 to $122.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, January 25th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and nine have assigned a hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, 3M currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $125.92.

3M Profile

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3M Co is a technology company, which manufactures industrial, safety, and consumer products. It operates through the following segments: Safety and Industrial, Transportation and Electronics, Health Care, Consumer, and Corporate and Unallocated. The Safety and Industrial segment consists of personal safety, industrial adhesives and tapes, abrasives, closure and masking systems, electrical markets, automotive aftermarket, and roofing granules.