3M (NYSE:MMM) Position Reduced by Kentucky Retirement Systems

Kentucky Retirement Systems trimmed its stake in shares of 3M (NYSE:MMM) by 5.0% during the first quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 41,974 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after selling 2,217 shares during the quarter. Kentucky Retirement Systems’ holdings in 3M were worth $4,452,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MMM. Norges Bank bought a new position in 3M during the 4th quarter valued at $502,585,000. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. lifted its position in shares of 3M by 313.8% in the 4th quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 2,650,961 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $289,803,000 after buying an additional 2,010,319 shares during the last quarter. Capital World Investors bought a new position in shares of 3M in the 1st quarter worth about $165,986,000. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of 3M by 157.2% in the 4th quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 1,805,496 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $197,377,000 after buying an additional 1,103,459 shares during the last quarter. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its position in shares of 3M by 8,766.0% in the 4th quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 1,080,940 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $118,168,000 after buying an additional 1,068,748 shares during the last quarter. 65.25% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on MMM. StockNews.com began coverage on shares of 3M in a research report on Thursday, June 6th. They issued a “buy” rating on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of 3M from $100.00 to $110.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 10th. Bank of America upgraded shares of 3M from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $105.00 to $120.00 in a research report on Friday, June 7th. Wolfe Research upgraded shares of 3M from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $125.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Thursday, June 13th. Finally, UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of 3M from $98.00 to $100.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 1st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $112.17.

3M Price Performance

3M stock traded up $23.77 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $127.16. 32,748,920 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,111,316. The firm has a market cap of $70.37 billion, a P/E ratio of -10.00, a P/E/G ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 0.95. The company has a quick ratio of 1.27, a current ratio of 1.64 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.17. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $102.05 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $98.76. 3M has a 1-year low of $71.12 and a 1-year high of $128.02.

3M (NYSE:MMM) last released its earnings results on Friday, July 26th. The conglomerate reported $1.93 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.66 by $0.27. The firm had revenue of $6.26 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.85 billion. 3M had a negative net margin of 21.57% and a positive return on equity of 95.80%. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $2.17 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that 3M will post 7.19 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

3M Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 12th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 24th were paid a $0.70 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, May 23rd. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.20%. 3M’s dividend payout ratio is currently -22.01%.

3M 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.