First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. Has $1.03 Million Position in 3M (NYSE:MMM)

First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. lessened its stake in shares of 3M (NYSE:MMM) by 18.3% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 9,688 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after selling 2,168 shares during the period. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P.’s holdings in 3M were worth $1,028,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Fragasso Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of 3M by 3.8% in the third quarter. Fragasso Group Inc. now owns 2,556 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $239,000 after purchasing an additional 93 shares during the last quarter. Bangor Savings Bank lifted its position in 3M by 1.0% during the 4th quarter. Bangor Savings Bank now owns 10,489 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $1,147,000 after buying an additional 104 shares in the last quarter. Allen Capital Group LLC boosted its stake in shares of 3M by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. Allen Capital Group LLC now owns 20,931 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $2,288,000 after buying an additional 105 shares during the last quarter. Summit Financial Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of 3M by 3.4% in the 1st quarter. Summit Financial Group Inc. now owns 3,316 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $352,000 after acquiring an additional 110 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Allegheny Financial Group LTD increased its position in shares of 3M by 2.3% in the fourth quarter. Allegheny Financial Group LTD now owns 5,032 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $550,000 after acquiring an additional 113 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 65.25% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently commented on MMM. UBS Group increased their price target on 3M from $98.00 to $100.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 1st. Mizuho restated a “neutral” rating and set a $105.00 price objective on shares of 3M in a research note on Wednesday, March 27th. Citigroup raised their target price on shares of 3M from $98.00 to $100.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 1st. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target on 3M from $78.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 1st. Finally, Bank of America raised 3M from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $105.00 to $120.00 in a research report on Friday, June 7th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $111.58.

3M Stock Performance

NYSE:MMM opened at $101.62 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.64, a quick ratio of 1.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.17. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $99.96 and a 200 day simple moving average of $99.17. 3M has a 1-year low of $71.12 and a 1-year high of $106.04. The stock has a market cap of $56.23 billion, a P/E ratio of -7.99, a PEG ratio of 1.89 and a beta of 0.95.

3M (NYSE:MMM) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, April 30th. The conglomerate reported $2.39 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.10 by $0.29. 3M had a negative net margin of 21.57% and a positive return on equity of 95.80%. The company had revenue of $8 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.64 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.97 earnings per share. Research analysts anticipate that 3M will post 7.17 earnings per share for the current year.

3M Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 12th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 24th were given a $0.70 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, May 23rd. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.76%. 3M’s payout ratio is -22.01%.

About 3M

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.