3,204 Shares in 3M (NYSE:MMM) Purchased by Opinicus Capital Inc.

Opinicus Capital Inc. purchased a new stake in 3M (NYSE:MMM) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 3,204 shares of the conglomerate’s stock, valued at approximately $350,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of MMM. Pacer Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of 3M by 1,273.9% in the fourth quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 3,783,726 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $413,637,000 after purchasing an additional 3,508,334 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of 3M by 8,766.0% in the fourth quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 1,080,940 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $118,168,000 after purchasing an additional 1,068,748 shares in the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp raised its position in shares of 3M by 20.8% in the third quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 2,944,135 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $275,630,000 after buying an additional 506,654 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC raised its position in shares of 3M by 29.8% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,908,914 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $178,713,000 after buying an additional 438,424 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Nuance Investments LLC raised its position in shares of 3M by 10.1% in the third quarter. Nuance Investments LLC now owns 4,062,557 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $380,337,000 after buying an additional 371,935 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 65.25% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MMM has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Mizuho reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $105.00 price objective on shares of 3M in a research report on Wednesday, March 27th. Royal Bank of Canada cut their price objective on shares of 3M from $84.00 to $78.00 and set an “underperform” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 2nd. Bank of America cut their price objective on shares of 3M from $110.00 to $100.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on shares of 3M from $112.00 to $105.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 24th. Finally, Citigroup upped their price target on shares of 3M from $95.31 to $98.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, April 8th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating, one has issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, 3M presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $104.00.

3M Trading Up 0.5 %

Shares of 3M stock traded up $0.42 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $91.83. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 4,520,901 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,283,067. 3M has a 1-year low of $71.12 and a 1-year high of $95.67. The business has a fifty day moving average of $95.71 and a 200 day moving average of $97.37. The company has a market capitalization of $50.82 billion, a PE ratio of -7.27, a P/E/G ratio of 1.73 and a beta of 1.02. The company has a quick ratio of 0.76, a current ratio of 1.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.69.

3M (NYSE:MMM) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 23rd. The conglomerate reported $2.42 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.31 by $0.11. 3M had a negative net margin of 21.40% and a positive return on equity of 62.45%. The company had revenue of $8.01 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.69 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $2.28 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 1.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts forecast that 3M will post 8.19 EPS for the current year.

3M Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 12th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 16th were given a $1.51 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 15th. This represents a $6.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.58%. This is a positive change from 3M’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.50. 3M’s dividend payout ratio is presently -47.82%.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Rodriguez Beatriz Karin Chavez sold 426 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $92.32, for a total value of $39,328.32. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 3,966 shares in the company, valued at $366,141.12. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

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.