Rockland Trust Co. Sells 8,317 Shares of 3M (NYSE:MMM)

Rockland Trust Co. trimmed its stake in 3M (NYSE:MMM) by 48.3% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 8,905 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after selling 8,317 shares during the quarter. Rockland Trust Co.’s holdings in 3M were worth $945,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in MMM. FMR LLC increased its position in 3M by 29.8% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,908,914 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $178,713,000 after acquiring an additional 438,424 shares during the last quarter. Dark Forest Capital Management LP purchased a new stake in 3M during the third quarter valued at $535,000. LPL Financial LLC increased its position in 3M by 12.0% during the third quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 604,157 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $56,561,000 after acquiring an additional 64,720 shares during the last quarter. Mariner LLC increased its position in 3M by 12.1% during the third quarter. Mariner LLC now owns 312,696 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $29,275,000 after acquiring an additional 33,813 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund purchased a new stake in 3M in the third quarter worth about $6,550,000. 65.25% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently issued reports on MMM. UBS Group increased their target price on 3M from $98.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 1st. Citigroup raised their price objective on 3M from $98.00 to $100.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 1st. HSBC raised 3M from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $91.13 to $115.00 in a research note on Friday, May 10th. Vertical Research upgraded 3M from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $92.00 to $140.00 in a report on Thursday, May 16th. Finally, Wolfe Research upgraded 3M from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $125.00 price target on the stock in a report on Thursday, June 13th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $111.58.

3M Trading Up 0.7 %

MMM opened at $102.39 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $56.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -8.05, a PEG ratio of 1.91 and a beta of 0.96. The company has a current ratio of 1.64, a quick ratio of 1.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.17. 3M has a 12 month low of $71.12 and a 12 month high of $106.04. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $98.13 and a 200-day moving average price of $99.28.

3M (NYSE:MMM) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, April 30th. The conglomerate reported $2.39 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.10 by $0.29. 3M had a positive return on equity of 95.80% and a negative net margin of 21.57%. The firm had revenue of $8 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.64 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.97 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that 3M will post 7.09 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

3M Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 12th. Investors of record on Friday, May 24th were issued a $0.70 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, May 23rd. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.73%. 3M’s payout ratio is -22.01%.

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.