Clarkston Capital Partners LLC Lowers Stake in 3M (NYSE:MMM)

Clarkston Capital Partners LLC cut its stake in 3M (NYSE:MMM) by 26.9% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 102,714 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after selling 37,820 shares during the period. Clarkston Capital Partners LLC’s holdings in 3M were worth $13,259,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Wayfinding Financial LLC bought a new position in 3M in the 4th quarter worth about $851,000. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its stake in 3M by 26.8% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 845,401 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $114,770,000 after purchasing an additional 178,450 shares in the last quarter. Meyer Handelman Co. increased its holdings in 3M by 1.4% during the 4th quarter. Meyer Handelman Co. now owns 197,618 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $25,511,000 after purchasing an additional 2,678 shares during the period. USA Financial Formulas bought a new stake in 3M during the 4th quarter valued at $816,000. Finally, Braun Stacey Associates Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of 3M by 18.4% in the 4th quarter. Braun Stacey Associates Inc. now owns 142,596 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $18,408,000 after buying an additional 22,203 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 65.25% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently commented on the company. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “underperform” rating and set a $96.00 price target on shares of 3M in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. Bank of America boosted their price target on shares of 3M from $175.00 to $179.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, March 6th. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of 3M from $161.00 to $165.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of 3M in a research note on Saturday, March 22nd. Finally, Citigroup increased their target price on 3M from $142.00 to $152.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, 3M has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $149.13.

3M Trading Down 9.4 %

3M stock opened at $126.62 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.86, a quick ratio of 1.08 and a current ratio of 1.41. The stock has a market cap of $68.29 billion, a PE ratio of 16.77, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.30 and a beta of 0.97. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $149.05 and a two-hundred day moving average of $138.55. 3M has a one year low of $90.17 and a one year high of $156.35.

3M (NYSE:MMM) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 21st. The conglomerate reported $1.68 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.66 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $6.01 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.77 billion. 3M had a net margin of 15.71% and a return on equity of 100.77%. 3M’s revenue was down 25.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $2.42 EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that 3M will post 7.8 EPS for the current fiscal year.

3M Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 12th. Investors of record on Friday, February 14th were given a $0.73 dividend. This represents a $2.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.31%. This is an increase from 3M’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.70. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 14th. 3M’s dividend payout ratio is presently 38.68%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Victoria Clarke sold 1,750 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, January 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $154.22, for a total value of $269,885.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 194 shares in the company, valued at $29,918.68. This represents a 90.02 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Christian T. Goralski, Jr. sold 6,318 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, January 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $149.43, for a total transaction of $944,098.74. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 5,024 shares in the company, 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 sold 113,639 shares of company stock worth $17,163,446 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

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.