3M (NYSE:MMM) Shares Sold by Perpetual Ltd

Perpetual Ltd lowered its position in 3M (NYSE:MMM) by 7.1% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 16,182 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after selling 1,237 shares during the quarter. Perpetual Ltd’s holdings in 3M were worth $2,089,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in 3M by 1.1% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 27,194,612 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $3,717,503,000 after acquiring an additional 302,900 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC raised its position in 3M by 88.7% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 8,961,866 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $1,225,087,000 after purchasing an additional 4,212,409 shares during the period. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC lifted its stake in shares of 3M by 1.2% in the 3rd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 3,815,625 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $521,596,000 after purchasing an additional 43,942 shares during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of 3M by 18.6% during the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 2,531,422 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $258,686,000 after purchasing an additional 396,773 shares during the last quarter. Finally, National Pension Service raised its holdings in 3M by 14.5% in the 3rd quarter. National Pension Service now owns 1,268,003 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $173,336,000 after buying an additional 161,036 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 65.25% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Bank of America increased their target price on shares of 3M from $143.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Royal Bank of Canada cut their target price on 3M from $100.00 to $96.00 and set an “underperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. Melius Research upgraded 3M from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $180.00 price target for the company in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. UBS Group upgraded 3M from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $130.00 to $184.00 in a report on Wednesday, November 13th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of 3M in a research report on Saturday. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $144.13.

3M Stock Up 4.1 %

3M stock opened at $146.86 on Wednesday. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $131.40 and its two-hundred day moving average is $128.20. The stock has a market cap of $79.98 billion, a PE ratio of 18.54, a P/E/G ratio of 2.30 and a beta of 0.95. 3M has a 1-year low of $75.40 and a 1-year high of $150.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.41, a current ratio of 1.43 and a quick ratio of 1.08.

3M (NYSE:MMM) last posted its earnings results 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 firm had revenue of $6.01 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5,770,390 billion. 3M had a return on equity of 104.66% and a net margin of 15.37%. The firm’s revenue was down 25.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $2.42 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts expect that 3M will post 7.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

3M Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, December 12th. Investors of record on Friday, November 15th were given a $0.70 dividend. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.91%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 15th. 3M’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 35.35%.

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.