Cannell & Co. Raises Stake in 3M (NYSE:MMM)

Cannell & Co. lifted its stake in 3M (NYSE:MMM) by 5.4% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 17,131 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after buying an additional 881 shares during the quarter. Cannell & Co.’s holdings in 3M were worth $1,873,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS lifted its holdings in shares of 3M by 15.4% in the third quarter. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS now owns 110,988 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $10,391,000 after buying an additional 14,775 shares in the last quarter. Shoker Investment Counsel Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of 3M by 49.7% in the third quarter. Shoker Investment Counsel Inc. now owns 16,747 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $1,568,000 after buying an additional 5,561 shares in the last quarter. MWA Asset Management purchased a new position in shares of 3M in the fourth quarter worth $1,723,000. Diversified Trust Co lifted its holdings in shares of 3M by 1.4% in the fourth quarter. Diversified Trust Co now owns 18,487 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $2,021,000 after buying an additional 263 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board purchased a new position in shares of 3M in the third quarter worth $11,908,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 65.25% of the company’s stock.

3M Trading Up 2.0 %

MMM stock opened at $98.42 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.76, a current ratio of 1.64 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.17. 3M has a twelve month low of $71.12 and a twelve month high of $99.70. The stock has a market capitalization of $54.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -7.74, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.13 and a beta of 1.00. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $95.96 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $97.55.

3M (NYSE:MMM) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 30th. The conglomerate reported $2.39 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.10 by $0.29. The firm had revenue of $8 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.64 billion. 3M had a negative net margin of 21.57% and a positive return on equity of 95.80%. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.97 earnings per share. As a group, analysts anticipate that 3M will post 7.05 earnings per share for the current year.

3M Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 12th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 16th were issued a $1.51 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 15th. This is a boost from 3M’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.50. This represents a $6.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.14%. 3M’s dividend payout ratio is presently -47.48%.

Insider Transactions at 3M

In other news, insider Rodriguez Beatriz Karin Chavez sold 426 shares of the company’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 transaction, the insider now directly owns 3,966 shares in the company, valued at $366,141.12. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently issued reports on MMM. Barclays decreased their price target on shares of 3M from $126.00 to $107.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 2nd. Bank of America decreased their price target on shares of 3M from $110.00 to $100.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 2nd. UBS Group upped their price target on shares of 3M from $98.00 to $100.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Mizuho reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $105.00 price target on shares of 3M in a research note on Wednesday, March 27th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded shares of 3M from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $110.00 to $111.00 in a research report on Wednesday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating, two have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $103.70.

3M Company Profile

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.