3M (NYSE:MMM) Shares Bought by Uncommon Cents Investing LLC

Uncommon Cents Investing LLC grew its stake in shares of 3M (NYSE:MMM) by 12.2% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 19,584 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,135 shares during the period. Uncommon Cents Investing LLC’s holdings in 3M were worth $2,141,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in MMM. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of 3M by 73,903.2% during the 4th quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 6,656,588 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $798,258,000 after purchasing an additional 6,647,593 shares in the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. boosted its position in shares of 3M by 1,273.9% in the 4th 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 in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of 3M in the 4th quarter worth about $369,974,000. Renaissance Technologies LLC raised its stake in 3M by 1,889.1% in the 1st quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 1,356,600 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $201,971,000 after purchasing an additional 1,288,400 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised its stake in 3M by 8.3% in the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 10,769,973 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $1,291,535,000 after purchasing an additional 825,223 shares during the last quarter. 65.25% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Rodriguez Beatriz Karin Chavez sold 426 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $92.32, for a total transaction of $39,328.32. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 3,966 shares in the company, valued at $366,141.12. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.34% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

3M Stock Performance

3M stock opened at $106.05 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $58.61 billion, a P/E ratio of -8.40, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.48 and a beta of 1.00. The company has a current ratio of 1.07, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.69. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $96.86 and a 200-day moving average of $97.78. 3M has a 52 week low of $85.35 and a 52 week high of $113.14.

3M (NYSE:MMM) last announced 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 positive return on equity of 62.45% and a negative net margin of 21.40%. The firm had revenue of $8.01 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.69 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $2.28 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts expect that 3M will post 9.77 EPS for the current fiscal year.

3M Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 12th. Investors of record on Friday, February 16th were paid a dividend of $1.51 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 15th. This is a boost from 3M’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.50. This represents a $6.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.70%. 3M’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is -47.82%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently weighed in on MMM. Mizuho reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $105.00 target price on shares of 3M in a research note on Wednesday. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “underperform” rating and set a $84.00 price objective on shares of 3M in a research note on Wednesday, March 20th. StockNews.com initiated coverage on shares of 3M in a research note on Wednesday. They set a “buy” rating for the company. Barclays raised shares of 3M from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $111.00 to $126.00 in a research note on Tuesday, March 19th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price 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. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, 3M presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $107.60.

3M Profile

3M Company provides diversified technology services in the United States and internationally. The company operates through four segments: Safety and Industrial; Transportation and Electronics; Health Care; and Consumer. The 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.