Western Wealth Management LLC Cuts Position in 3M (NYSE:MMM)

Western Wealth Management LLC reduced its holdings in shares of 3M (NYSE:MMM) by 8.7% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 12,755 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after selling 1,214 shares during the quarter. Western Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in 3M were worth $1,394,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MMM. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC increased its holdings in 3M by 73,903.2% during the 4th quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 6,656,588 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $798,258,000 after acquiring an additional 6,647,593 shares in the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in 3M by 1,273.9% during the 4th quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 3,783,726 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $413,637,000 after acquiring an additional 3,508,334 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in 3M during the 4th quarter valued at about $369,974,000. Renaissance Technologies LLC increased its holdings in 3M by 1,889.1% during the 1st quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 1,356,600 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $201,971,000 after acquiring an additional 1,288,400 shares in the last quarter. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in 3M by 8,766.0% during the 4th quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 1,080,940 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $118,168,000 after acquiring an additional 1,068,748 shares in the last quarter. 65.25% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MMM has been the topic of several analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on shares of 3M from $118.00 to $110.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday. Mizuho reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $105.00 price target on shares of 3M in a research note on Wednesday, March 27th. StockNews.com raised shares of 3M from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their price target on shares of 3M from $84.00 to $78.00 and set an “underperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 2nd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on shares of 3M from $112.00 to $105.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, January 24th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating, one has given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $104.00.

3M Price Performance

MMM opened at $92.35 on Friday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $95.76 and its 200 day simple moving average is $97.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.69, a current ratio of 1.07 and a quick ratio of 0.76. 3M has a 1 year low of $71.12 and a 1 year high of $95.67.

3M (NYSE:MMM) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, January 23rd. The conglomerate reported $2.42 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.31 by $0.11. 3M had a negative net margin of 21.40% and a positive return on equity of 62.45%. The business had revenue of $8.01 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.69 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.28 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 1.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts forecast that 3M will post 8.79 EPS for the current year.

3M Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 12th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 16th were given a dividend of $1.51 per share. This represents a $6.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.54%. This is a boost from 3M’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.50. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 15th. 3M’s payout ratio is -47.82%.

Insider Buying and Selling at 3M

In other 3M news, insider Rodriguez Beatriz Karin Chavez sold 426 shares of 3M stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $92.32, for a total transaction of $39,328.32. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 3,966 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $366,141.12. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 0.34% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.