Valmark Advisers Inc. Sells 79 Shares of 3M (NYSE:MMM)

Valmark Advisers Inc. lessened its stake in 3M (NYSE:MMM) by 1.5% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 5,184 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after selling 79 shares during the quarter. Valmark Advisers Inc.’s holdings in 3M were worth $669,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. D.A. Davidson & CO. grew its holdings in shares of 3M by 16.2% in the third quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. now owns 146,333 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $20,004,000 after purchasing an additional 20,421 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its holdings in 3M by 26.8% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 845,401 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $114,770,000 after purchasing an additional 178,450 shares during the last quarter. Meyer Handelman Co. raised its holdings in shares of 3M by 1.4% in the fourth quarter. Meyer Handelman Co. now owns 197,618 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $25,511,000 after buying an additional 2,678 shares during the period. Ballentine Partners LLC increased its stake in 3M by 40.1% in the third quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC now owns 18,217 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $2,490,000 after purchasing an additional 5,210 shares during the period. Finally, FMR LLC increased its stake in 3M by 88.7% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 8,961,866 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $1,225,087,000 after buying an additional 4,212,409 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 65.25% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently weighed in on the company. Melius upgraded 3M from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Melius Research upgraded 3M from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $180.00 target price for the company in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. UBS Group raised 3M from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their target price for the company from $130.00 to $184.00 in a research report on Wednesday, November 13th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “underperform” rating and issued a $96.00 price target on shares of 3M in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Finally, Barclays raised their price objective on 3M from $161.00 to $165.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, 3M presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $148.87.

3M Stock Performance

Shares of MMM stock opened at $148.65 on Tuesday. The business has a fifty day moving average of $138.80 and a 200 day moving average of $133.88. 3M has a 1 year low of $75.40 and a 1 year high of $155.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.86, a current ratio of 1.41 and a quick ratio of 1.08. The firm has a market capitalization of $80.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.69, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.37 and a beta of 0.96.

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

3M Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 12th. Investors of record on Friday, February 14th will be issued a dividend of $0.73 per share. This represents a $2.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.96%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 14th. This is a boost from 3M’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.70. 3M’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 37.09%.

Insider Activity at 3M

In other news, EVP Victoria Clarke sold 1,750 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $154.22, for a total value of $269,885.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 194 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $29,918.68. The trade was a 90.02 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Chairman Michael F. Roman sold 49,598 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $152.30, for a total value of $7,553,775.40. Following the sale, the chairman now directly owns 180,895 shares in the company, valued at approximately $27,550,308.50. This trade represents a 21.52 % 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 over the last three months. Company insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

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.