3M (NYSE:MMM) Shares Sold by Granite Investment Partners LLC

Granite Investment Partners LLC decreased its holdings in 3M (NYSE:MMM) by 8.0% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 4,628 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after selling 400 shares during the quarter. Granite Investment Partners LLC’s holdings in 3M were worth $473,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of MMM. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of 3M by 0.8% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 49,461,361 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $5,246,367,000 after buying an additional 377,703 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its stake in 3M by 11.8% during the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 5,065,242 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $517,617,000 after acquiring an additional 533,520 shares during the last quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. grew its holdings in 3M by 313.8% during the 4th quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 2,650,961 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $289,803,000 after acquiring an additional 2,010,319 shares in the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB increased its position in shares of 3M by 8.2% in the 1st quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 2,168,811 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $228,875,000 after purchasing an additional 164,236 shares during the last quarter. Finally, ProShare Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of 3M by 1.8% in the 1st quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 2,006,221 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $212,800,000 after purchasing an additional 36,310 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 65.25% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at 3M

In other 3M news, Chairman Michael F. Roman sold 5,675 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $123.46, for a total transaction of $700,635.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman now directly owns 174,036 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $21,486,484.56. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, Chairman Michael F. Roman sold 5,675 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $123.46, for a total value of $700,635.50. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman now owns 174,036 shares in the company, valued at $21,486,484.56. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CFO Theresa E. Reinseth sold 2,100 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $124.12, for a total value of $260,652.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 4,364 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $541,659.68. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently commented on MMM. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on 3M from $100.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 10th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target on 3M from $93.00 to $95.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a report on Monday, July 29th. Morgan Stanley initiated coverage on 3M in a research note on Friday, September 6th. They set an “underweight” rating and a $125.00 price objective on the stock. StockNews.com lowered shares of 3M from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, July 29th. Finally, Bank of America raised their price target on shares of 3M from $120.00 to $143.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, July 29th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $124.43.

3M Stock Performance

Shares of MMM stock opened at $134.76 on Friday. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $124.63 and a 200 day simple moving average of $107.80. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.95, a current ratio of 1.36 and a quick ratio of 1.08. The firm has a market capitalization of $74.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -10.59, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.41 and a beta of 0.95. 3M has a 12-month low of $71.12 and a 12-month high of $135.32.

3M (NYSE:MMM) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, July 26th. The conglomerate reported $1.93 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.68 by $0.25. The company had revenue of $6.26 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.85 billion. 3M had a return on equity of 112.92% and a net margin of 3.08%. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.17 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that 3M will post 7.22 EPS for the current year.

3M Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 12th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 26th were paid a $0.70 dividend. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.08%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 26th. 3M’s dividend payout ratio is currently -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.