National Pension Service Increases Position in 3M (NYSE:MMM)

National Pension Service grew its stake in 3M (NYSE:MMM) by 14.5% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,268,003 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after buying an additional 161,036 shares during the period. National Pension Service owned 0.23% of 3M worth $173,336,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in 3M by 0.8% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 49,461,361 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $5,246,367,000 after acquiring an additional 377,703 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its position in shares of 3M by 11.8% during the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 5,065,242 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $517,617,000 after purchasing an additional 533,520 shares in the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in 3M by 2.0% in the second quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 4,952,878 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $506,135,000 after acquiring an additional 97,340 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in 3M by 18.6% in the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 2,531,422 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $258,686,000 after acquiring an additional 396,773 shares in the last quarter. Finally, ProShare Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of 3M by 1.8% during the first quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 2,006,221 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $212,800,000 after purchasing an additional 36,310 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 65.25% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on MMM shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded shares of 3M from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their target price for the company from $110.00 to $150.00 in a research report on Monday, July 29th. Citigroup increased their price target on shares of 3M from $100.00 to $133.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, July 29th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of 3M from $130.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, October 7th. Mizuho increased their price objective on 3M from $105.00 to $146.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Finally, Barclays increased their price target on 3M from $160.00 to $165.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $139.27.

3M Trading Down 1.1 %

Shares of MMM stock opened at $125.85 on Tuesday. 3M has a 1-year low of $75.40 and a 1-year high of $141.34. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.41, a current ratio of 1.43 and a quick ratio of 1.08. The business has a 50-day moving average of $132.88 and a 200 day moving average of $115.73. The stock has a market capitalization of $68.53 billion, a PE ratio of 15.89, a P/E/G ratio of 2.05 and a beta of 0.95.

3M (NYSE:MMM) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The conglomerate reported $1.98 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.93 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $6.29 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.06 billion. 3M had a return on equity of 104.66% and a net margin of 15.37%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 24.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $2.68 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that 3M will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current year.

3M Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 12th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 26th were issued a $0.70 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 26th. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.22%. 3M’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 35.35%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other 3M news, Chairman Michael F. Roman sold 5,675 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $123.46, for a total transaction of $700,635.50. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman now owns 174,036 shares in the company, valued at $21,486,484.56. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 0.38% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.