Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management Reduces Stock Holdings in 3M (NYSE:MMM)

Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management lessened its stake in shares of 3M (NYSE:MMMFree Report) by 12.9% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 2,182 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after selling 322 shares during the quarter. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management’s holdings in 3M were worth $282,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Cetera Investment Advisers raised its holdings in shares of 3M by 10.7% in the second quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 183,925 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $18,795,000 after buying an additional 17,793 shares during the period. Dana Investment Advisors Inc. increased its stake in 3M by 6.1% in the second quarter. Dana Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 14,275 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $1,459,000 after purchasing an additional 820 shares during the period. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL bought a new stake in shares of 3M during the second quarter worth $43,000. Abacus Planning Group Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of 3M during the third quarter valued at $252,000. Finally, Czech National Bank grew its holdings in shares of 3M by 6.1% in the third quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 111,909 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $15,298,000 after purchasing an additional 6,461 shares during the last quarter. 65.25% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

3M Stock Up 1.8 %

Shares of MMM stock opened at $154.31 on Friday. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $134.20 and its 200 day moving average price is $130.37. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.86, a current ratio of 1.41 and a quick ratio of 1.08. 3M has a 1-year low of $75.40 and a 1-year high of $154.65. The company has a market cap of $84.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.44, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.46 and a beta of 0.95.

3M (NYSE:MMMGet Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 21st. The conglomerate reported $1.68 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.66 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $6.01 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.77 billion. 3M had a net margin of 15.71% and a return on equity of 100.77%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 25.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $2.42 earnings per share. On average, research analysts expect that 3M will post 7.66 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

3M Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, December 12th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 15th were issued a dividend of $0.70 per share. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.81%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 15th. 3M’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 37.09%.

Insider Activity at 3M

In other news, Chairman Michael F. Roman sold 49,598 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $152.30, for a total value of $7,553,775.40. Following the transaction, the chairman now directly owns 180,895 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $27,550,308.50. This represents a 21.52 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Christian T. Goralski, Jr. sold 6,318 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $149.43, for a total value of $944,098.74. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 5,024 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $750,736.32. The trade was a 55.70 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 111,889 shares of company stock valued at $16,893,561 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MMM has been the subject of several research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of 3M from $162.00 to $165.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded 3M from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $140.00 to $170.00 in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Melius Research raised 3M from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $180.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Citigroup lifted their price objective on 3M from $142.00 to $152.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Finally, UBS Group upgraded shares of 3M from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $130.00 to $184.00 in a report on Wednesday, November 13th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $148.87.

Get Our Latest Report on 3M

About 3M

(Free Report)

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.

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Institutional Ownership by Quarter for 3M (NYSE:MMM)

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