Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd Sells 5,484 Shares of 3M (NYSE:MMM)

Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd lessened its position in shares of 3M (NYSE:MMM) by 53.3% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 4,809 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after selling 5,484 shares during the period. Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd’s holdings in 3M were worth $621,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the stock. State Street Corp grew its holdings in shares of 3M by 1.1% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 27,194,612 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $3,717,503,000 after acquiring an additional 302,900 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC grew its holdings in shares of 3M by 88.7% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 8,961,866 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $1,225,087,000 after acquiring an additional 4,212,409 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its holdings in shares of 3M by 9.2% in the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 5,689,486 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $734,456,000 after acquiring an additional 479,621 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC grew its holdings in shares of 3M by 1.2% in the 3rd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 3,815,625 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $521,596,000 after acquiring an additional 43,942 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of 3M by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,577,045 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $461,761,000 after acquiring an additional 17,228 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 65.25% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Barclays raised their price objective on 3M from $161.00 to $165.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on 3M from $162.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded 3M from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $140.00 to $170.00 in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Citigroup lifted their price target on 3M from $142.00 to $152.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Finally, Bank of America lifted their price target on 3M from $175.00 to $179.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, March 6th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $149.13.

Insider Activity at 3M

In related news, EVP Victoria Clarke sold 1,750 shares of 3M stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 194 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $29,918.68. This trade represents a 90.02 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CAO Theresa E. Reinseth sold 2,309 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, January 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $149.95, for a total transaction of $346,234.55. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 4,417 shares in the company, valued at approximately $662,329.15. The trade was a 34.33 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 113,639 shares of company stock valued at $17,163,446 over the last three months. 0.34% of the stock is owned by insiders.

3M Stock Down 1.3 %

NYSE MMM opened at $151.16 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.41, a quick ratio of 1.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.86. 3M has a 1-year low of $85.62 and a 1-year high of $156.35. The company has a 50 day moving average of $147.96 and a 200-day moving average of $137.36. The company has a market cap of $82.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.02, a PEG ratio of 3.30 and a beta of 0.97.

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

3M Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 12th. Investors of record on Friday, February 14th were paid a $0.73 dividend. This represents a $2.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.93%. This is a boost from 3M’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.70. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 14th. 3M’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 38.68%.

3M 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.