Hourglass Capital LLC Sells 30,303 Shares of 3M (NYSE:MMM)

Hourglass Capital LLC trimmed its position in shares of 3M (NYSE:MMM - Free Report) by 58.6% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 21,450 shares of the conglomerate's stock after selling 30,303 shares during the quarter. Hourglass Capital LLC's holdings in 3M were worth $2,769,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in MMM. FMR LLC boosted its position in shares of 3M by 88.7% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 8,961,866 shares of the conglomerate's stock worth $1,225,087,000 after purchasing an additional 4,212,409 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its position in 3M by 11,601.2% in the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 1,261,270 shares of the conglomerate's stock valued at $172,416,000 after acquiring an additional 1,250,491 shares in the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC bought a new stake in 3M in the 3rd quarter valued at $82,208,000. Parsifal Capital Management LP lifted its position in 3M by 179.0% in the 3rd quarter. Parsifal Capital Management LP now owns 820,094 shares of the conglomerate's stock valued at $112,107,000 after acquiring an additional 526,194 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of Montreal Can lifted its position in 3M by 39.1% in the 3rd quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 1,099,794 shares of the conglomerate's stock valued at $151,002,000 after acquiring an additional 308,912 shares in the last quarter. 65.25% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

3M Stock Performance

Shares of 3M stock traded up $0.70 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $149.32. 344,499 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,914,971. The stock has a market capitalization of $81.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.73, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.37 and a beta of 0.96. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $139.15 and a 200-day moving average price of $134.03. 3M has a 1-year low of $75.40 and a 1-year high of $155.00. The company has a current ratio of 1.41, a quick ratio of 1.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.86.

3M (NYSE:MMM - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 21st. The conglomerate reported $1.68 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.66 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $6.01 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.77 billion. 3M had a net margin of 15.71% and a return on equity of 100.77%. 3M's revenue for the quarter was down 25.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.42 EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that 3M will post 7.8 EPS for the current fiscal year.

3M Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 12th. Investors of record on Friday, February 14th will be paid a $0.73 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 14th. This represents a $2.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.96%. This is a positive change from 3M's previous quarterly dividend of $0.70. 3M's dividend payout ratio is 37.09%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently commented on MMM shares. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of 3M from $161.00 to $165.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company raised shares of 3M from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $140.00 to $170.00 in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Citigroup boosted their price objective on shares of 3M from $142.00 to $152.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Melius Research upgraded shares of 3M from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $180.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an "underperform" rating and issued a $96.00 price target on shares of 3M in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $148.87.

Insider Activity at 3M

In other 3M news, EVP Victoria Clarke sold 1,750 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $154.22, for a total value of $269,885.00. Following the completion of the sale, 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 transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Christian T. Goralski, Jr. sold 6,318 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $149.43, for a total transaction of $944,098.74. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 5,024 shares of the company's stock, valued at $750,736.32. This represents a 55.70 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 113,639 shares of company stock worth $17,163,446. 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.