3M (NYSE:MMM) Shares Sold by National Bank of Canada FI

National Bank of Canada FI reduced its stake in shares of 3M (NYSE:MMM) by 21.7% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 467,911 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after selling 129,807 shares during the quarter. National Bank of Canada FI’s holdings in 3M were worth $51,464,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of MMM. CGC Financial Services LLC increased its holdings in shares of 3M by 89.9% during the 4th quarter. CGC Financial Services LLC now owns 338 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $37,000 after buying an additional 160 shares during the last quarter. Briaud Financial Planning Inc acquired a new stake in shares of 3M in the 3rd quarter valued at about $35,000. Authentikos Wealth Advisory LLC acquired a new stake in shares of 3M in the 3rd quarter valued at about $37,000. VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC raised its stake in 3M by 91.9% during the third quarter. VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC now owns 449 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $42,000 after acquiring an additional 215 shares during the period. Finally, Psagot Value Holdings Ltd. Israel acquired a new stake in 3M during the third quarter worth about $44,000. 65.25% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have commented on MMM. Bank of America dropped their price target on shares of 3M from $110.00 to $100.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 2nd. Mizuho reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $105.00 price objective on shares of 3M in a report on Wednesday, March 27th. UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of 3M from $98.00 to $100.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 1st. StockNews.com upgraded shares of 3M from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, April 25th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on shares of 3M from $78.00 to $87.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 1st. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating, two have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, 3M has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $103.70.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Rodriguez Beatriz Karin Chavez sold 426 shares of 3M stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $92.32, for a total transaction of $39,328.32. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 3,966 shares in the company, valued at approximately $366,141.12. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 0.38% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

3M Stock Performance

NYSE MMM traded down $0.17 on Monday, hitting $96.98. 1,609,873 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 5,854,347. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.17, a current ratio of 1.64 and a quick ratio of 1.27. The business’s fifty day moving average is $96.14 and its 200 day moving average is $97.71. 3M has a 52 week low of $71.12 and a 52 week high of $99.70. The company has a market capitalization of $53.66 billion, a PE ratio of -7.64, a P/E/G ratio of 1.79 and a beta of 1.00.

3M (NYSE:MMM) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 30th. The conglomerate reported $2.39 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.10 by $0.29. The business had revenue of $8 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.64 billion. 3M had a positive return on equity of 95.80% and a negative net margin of 21.57%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.97 earnings per share. Research analysts anticipate that 3M will post 7.23 EPS for the current fiscal year.

3M Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 12th. Investors of record on Friday, February 16th were issued a $1.51 dividend. This is a boost from 3M’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.50. This represents a $6.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.23%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 15th. 3M’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently -47.48%.

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.