Obermeyer Wood Investment Counsel Lllp Decreases Position in 3M (NYSE:MMM)

Obermeyer Wood Investment Counsel Lllp reduced its stake in 3M (NYSE:MMM) by 10.5% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 3,151 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after selling 369 shares during the quarter. Obermeyer Wood Investment Counsel Lllp’s holdings in 3M were worth $344,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Fragasso Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of 3M by 3.8% in the third quarter. Fragasso Group Inc. now owns 2,556 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $239,000 after buying an additional 93 shares in the last quarter. McIlrath & Eck LLC grew its holdings in shares of 3M by 13.3% in the 4th quarter. McIlrath & Eck LLC now owns 836 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $100,000 after acquiring an additional 98 shares during the last quarter. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC boosted its position in shares of 3M by 1.2% in the first quarter. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC now owns 7,941 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $1,182,000 after buying an additional 98 shares during the period. Vestcor Inc boosted its position in 3M by 0.8% during the fourth quarter. Vestcor Inc now owns 13,133 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $1,575,000 after purchasing an additional 102 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bangor Savings Bank raised its holdings in 3M by 1.0% during the fourth quarter. Bangor Savings Bank now owns 10,489 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $1,147,000 after buying an additional 104 shares in the last quarter. 65.25% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Rodriguez Beatriz Karin Chavez sold 426 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $92.32, for a total value 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 can be accessed through this link. 0.34% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently issued reports on MMM. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their price target on 3M from $84.00 to $78.00 and set an “underperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 2nd. Citigroup upped their price objective on shares of 3M from $95.31 to $98.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, April 8th. Barclays reduced their price target on 3M from $126.00 to $107.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on shares of 3M from $112.00 to $105.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 24th. Finally, Bank of America lowered their price objective on shares of 3M from $110.00 to $100.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 2nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating, one has given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $104.00.

3M Stock Performance

Shares of 3M stock traded up $0.42 on Friday, hitting $91.90. 434,646 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 5,826,414. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $95.77 and its 200 day simple moving average is $97.22. 3M has a 12-month low of $71.12 and a 12-month high of $95.67. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.69, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a current ratio of 1.07.

3M (NYSE:MMM) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, January 23rd. The conglomerate reported $2.42 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.31 by $0.11. The firm had revenue of $8.01 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.69 billion. 3M had a negative net margin of 21.40% and a positive return on equity of 62.45%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $2.28 EPS. On average, analysts expect that 3M will post 8.79 EPS for the current year.

3M Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 12th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 16th were paid a $1.51 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 15th. This represents a $6.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.57%. This is an increase from 3M’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.50. 3M’s dividend payout ratio is currently -47.82%.

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.