Murphy Middleton Hinkle & Parker Inc. Sells 488 Shares of 3M (NYSE:MMM)

Murphy Middleton Hinkle & Parker Inc. reduced its stake in 3M (NYSE:MMM) by 7.0% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 6,457 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after selling 488 shares during the quarter. Murphy Middleton Hinkle & Parker Inc.’s holdings in 3M were worth $834,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of MMM. FSA Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of 3M in the third quarter worth about $27,000. McClarren Financial Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in 3M by 118.6% during the 3rd quarter. McClarren Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 223 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $30,000 after buying an additional 121 shares in the last quarter. True Wealth Design LLC increased its stake in 3M by 2,466.7% in the 3rd quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 308 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $42,000 after acquiring an additional 296 shares during the last quarter. ORG Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of 3M by 44.1% during the 4th quarter. ORG Partners LLC now owns 320 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $41,000 after acquiring an additional 98 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Northwest Investment Counselors LLC bought a new position in shares of 3M during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $57,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 65.25% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have commented on MMM. Mizuho lifted their price objective on shares of 3M from $105.00 to $146.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Barclays decreased their price target on 3M from $165.00 to $161.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Melius upgraded shares of 3M from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of 3M from $130.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, October 7th. Finally, UBS Group upgraded shares of 3M from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price target for the company from $130.00 to $184.00 in a report on Wednesday, November 13th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $144.13.

3M Stock Up 1.3 %

Shares of NYSE MMM opened at $141.02 on Friday. 3M has a 52-week low of $75.40 and a 52-week high of $141.66. The firm has a market capitalization of $76.80 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.81, a PEG ratio of 2.01 and a beta of 0.95. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $131.24 and a 200 day moving average price of $127.56. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.41, a quick ratio of 1.08 and a current ratio of 1.43.

3M (NYSE:MMM) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The conglomerate reported $1.98 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.93 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $6.29 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.06 billion. 3M had a return on equity of 104.66% and a net margin of 15.37%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 24.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $2.68 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that 3M will post 7.27 earnings per share for the current year.

3M Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, December 12th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 15th were given a dividend of $0.70 per share. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.99%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 15th. 3M’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 35.35%.

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.