3M (NYSE:MMM) Position Trimmed by Loomis Sayles & Co. L P

Loomis Sayles & Co. L P trimmed its holdings in shares of 3M (NYSE:MMM) by 46.2% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 566 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after selling 487 shares during the quarter. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P’s holdings in 3M were worth $73,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. NEOS Investment Management LLC grew its position in shares of 3M by 30.9% during the 4th quarter. NEOS Investment Management LLC now owns 31,618 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $4,082,000 after buying an additional 7,463 shares during the last quarter. UniSuper Management Pty Ltd boosted its stake in 3M by 27.2% in the fourth quarter. UniSuper Management Pty Ltd now owns 38,958 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $5,029,000 after acquiring an additional 8,329 shares during the period. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its stake in 3M by 5.4% in the fourth quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 987,896 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $128,298,000 after acquiring an additional 50,641 shares during the period. Ausdal Financial Partners Inc. grew its holdings in shares of 3M by 16.6% during the fourth quarter. Ausdal Financial Partners Inc. now owns 4,450 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $574,000 after purchasing an additional 633 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Financial Engines Advisors L.L.C. raised its position in shares of 3M by 204.2% during the 4th quarter. Financial Engines Advisors L.L.C. now owns 6,377 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $823,000 after purchasing an additional 4,281 shares during the period. 65.25% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

3M Stock Down 2.5 %

Shares of MMM stock opened at $144.74 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.86, a quick ratio of 1.08 and a current ratio of 1.41. The stock has a market cap of $78.58 billion, a PE ratio of 19.17, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.30 and a beta of 0.97. The business’s fifty day moving average is $149.60 and its 200-day moving average is $138.29. 3M has a 1 year low of $88.23 and a 1 year high of $156.35.

3M (NYSE:MMM) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 21st. The conglomerate reported $1.68 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.66 by $0.02. 3M had a net margin of 15.71% and a return on equity of 100.77%. The firm had revenue of $6.01 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.77 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.42 earnings per share. 3M’s revenue for the quarter was down 25.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts expect that 3M will post 7.8 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

3M Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 12th. Investors of record on Friday, February 14th were issued a dividend of $0.73 per share. This represents a $2.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.02%. This is a boost from 3M’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.70. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 14th. 3M’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 38.68%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MMM has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Citigroup boosted their price objective on 3M from $142.00 to $152.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Barclays boosted their price target on shares of 3M from $161.00 to $165.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of 3M in a report on Saturday, March 22nd. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “underperform” rating and set a $96.00 target price on shares of 3M in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of 3M from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $140.00 to $170.00 in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $149.13.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Victoria Clarke sold 1,750 shares of 3M stock in a transaction on Friday, January 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $154.22, for a total value of $269,885.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 194 shares in the company, valued at $29,918.68. The trade was a 90.02 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, insider Christian T. Goralski, Jr. sold 6,318 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, January 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $149.43, for a total value of $944,098.74. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 5,024 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $750,736.32. This trade represents a 55.70 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 113,639 shares of company stock worth $17,163,446. 0.34% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.