Brookstone Capital Management Sells 92,378 Shares of 3M (NYSE:MMM)

Brookstone Capital Management lessened its holdings in 3M (NYSE:MMM) by 87.2% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 13,610 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after selling 92,378 shares during the quarter. Brookstone Capital Management’s holdings in 3M were worth $1,757,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. CVA Family Office LLC boosted its stake in 3M by 1.9% during the 3rd quarter. CVA Family Office LLC now owns 4,174 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $571,000 after acquiring an additional 79 shares during the last quarter. Harbour Investments Inc. boosted its stake in 3M by 0.8% during the 3rd quarter. Harbour Investments Inc. now owns 10,559 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $1,443,000 after acquiring an additional 81 shares during the last quarter. KMG Fiduciary Partners LLC boosted its stake in 3M by 0.5% during the 3rd quarter. KMG Fiduciary Partners LLC now owns 16,186 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $2,213,000 after acquiring an additional 84 shares during the last quarter. TCV Trust & Wealth Management Inc. boosted its stake in 3M by 1.3% during the 3rd quarter. TCV Trust & Wealth Management Inc. now owns 6,464 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $884,000 after acquiring an additional 84 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Weatherly Asset Management L. P. boosted its stake in 3M by 3.3% during the 3rd quarter. Weatherly Asset Management L. P. now owns 2,730 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $373,000 after acquiring an additional 86 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 65.25% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently weighed in on MMM. Melius Research raised shares of 3M from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $180.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. Bank of America raised their target price on shares of 3M from $143.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Barclays dropped their target price on shares of 3M from $165.00 to $161.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of 3M from $130.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, October 7th. Finally, UBS Group upgraded shares of 3M from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $130.00 to $184.00 in a report on Wednesday, November 13th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $144.13.

3M Price Performance

NYSE MMM opened at $138.07 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.08, a current ratio of 1.43 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.41. 3M has a 12-month low of $75.40 and a 12-month high of $141.34. The company has a market capitalization of $75.19 billion, a PE ratio of 17.43, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.15 and a beta of 0.95. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $130.90 and its 200-day moving average is $127.12.

3M (NYSE:MMM) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 22nd. The conglomerate reported $1.98 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.93 by $0.05. 3M had a net margin of 15.37% and a return on equity of 104.66%. The company had revenue of $6.29 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.06 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.68 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was down 24.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts anticipate that 3M will post 7.27 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

3M Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, December 12th. Investors of record on Friday, November 15th were issued a dividend of $0.70 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 15th. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.03%. 3M’s payout ratio is 35.35%.

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.