Kovack Advisors Inc. Acquires 4,131 Shares of 3M (NYSE:MMM)

Kovack Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in shares of 3M (NYSE:MMM) by 20.6% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 24,159 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after acquiring an additional 4,131 shares during the period. Kovack Advisors Inc.’s holdings in 3M were worth $2,641,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of MMM. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of 3M by 0.7% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 49,033,679 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $4,590,533,000 after buying an additional 317,483 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. increased its position in shares of 3M by 2.4% during the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 4,082,950 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $382,246,000 after buying an additional 94,864 shares during the period. Nuance Investments LLC increased its position in shares of 3M by 10.1% during the third quarter. Nuance Investments LLC now owns 4,062,557 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $380,337,000 after buying an additional 371,935 shares during the period. Pacer Advisors Inc. increased its position in shares of 3M by 1,273.9% during the fourth quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 3,783,726 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $413,637,000 after buying an additional 3,508,334 shares during the period. Finally, Van ECK Associates Corp increased its position in shares of 3M by 20.8% during the third quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 2,944,135 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $275,630,000 after buying an additional 506,654 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 65.25% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on shares of 3M from $118.00 to $110.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 17th. Citigroup raised their price target on shares of 3M from $95.31 to $98.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, April 8th. Mizuho restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $105.00 price target on shares of 3M in a report on Wednesday, March 27th. Finally, Barclays reduced their price target on shares of 3M from $126.00 to $107.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 2nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating, one has assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $104.00.

3M Stock Up 0.4 %

Shares of NYSE MMM traded up $0.39 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $91.80. 4,519,673 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 5,728,667. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.69, a current ratio of 1.07 and a quick ratio of 0.76. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $95.71 and a 200 day simple moving average of $97.37. 3M has a 1-year low of $71.12 and a 1-year high of $95.67. The stock has a market cap of $50.80 billion, a P/E ratio of -7.27, a PEG ratio of 1.82 and a beta of 1.02.

3M (NYSE:MMM) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 23rd. The conglomerate reported $2.42 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.69 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $2.28 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was down 1.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts expect that 3M will post 7.87 EPS for the current fiscal year.

3M Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 12th. Investors of record on Friday, February 16th were given a dividend of $1.51 per share. This is a positive change from 3M’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.50. This represents a $6.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.58%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 15th. 3M’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -47.82%.

Insider Activity at 3M

In other 3M news, insider Rodriguez Beatriz Karin Chavez sold 426 shares of 3M 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 sale, the insider now owns 3,966 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $366,141.12. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.34% of the stock is 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.