Bahl & Gaynor Inc. Sells 136 Shares of 3M (NYSE:MMM)

Bahl & Gaynor Inc. reduced its position in shares of 3M (NYSE:MMM) by 1.0% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 13,109 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after selling 136 shares during the quarter. Bahl & Gaynor Inc.’s holdings in 3M were worth $1,433,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. CGC Financial Services LLC grew its position 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 period. Briaud Financial Planning Inc acquired a new position in shares of 3M during the 3rd quarter worth about $35,000. Authentikos Wealth Advisory LLC acquired a new position in shares of 3M during the 3rd quarter worth about $37,000. VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC grew its position in shares of 3M by 91.9% during the 3rd quarter. VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC now owns 449 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $42,000 after buying an additional 215 shares during the period. Finally, Psagot Value Holdings Ltd. Israel acquired a new position in shares of 3M during the 3rd quarter worth about $44,000. 65.25% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other 3M news, insider Rodriguez Beatriz Karin Chavez sold 426 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 3,966 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $366,141.12. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on MMM shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on 3M from $118.00 to $110.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 17th. Bank of America decreased their target price on 3M from $110.00 to $100.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 2nd. Citigroup boosted their price objective on 3M from $95.31 to $98.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, April 8th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on 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, StockNews.com upgraded 3M from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating, one has assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $104.00.

3M Trading Up 0.5 %

NYSE:MMM opened at $91.83 on Friday. 3M has a twelve month low of $71.12 and a twelve month high of $95.67. The company has a quick ratio of 0.76, a current ratio of 1.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.69. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $95.71 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $97.37. The company has a market cap of $50.82 billion, a P/E ratio of -7.27, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.73 and a beta of 1.02.

3M (NYSE:MMM) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 23rd. The conglomerate reported $2.42 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.31 by $0.11. 3M had a positive return on equity of 62.45% and a negative net margin of 21.40%. The firm had revenue of $8.01 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.69 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.28 EPS. The business’s revenue was down 1.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts expect that 3M will post 8.19 EPS for the current fiscal year.

3M Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 12th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 16th were given a dividend of $1.51 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 15th. This represents a $6.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.58%. This is an increase from 3M’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.50. 3M’s dividend payout ratio is -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.