Bailard Inc. Reduces Stock Position in 3M (NYSE:MMM)

Bailard Inc. decreased its position in 3M (NYSE:MMM) by 4.4% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 6,242 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after selling 287 shares during the quarter. Bailard Inc.’s holdings in 3M were worth $682,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in MMM. Briaud Financial Planning Inc acquired a new position in shares of 3M in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $35,000. Authentikos Wealth Advisory LLC acquired a new position in shares of 3M in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $37,000. CGC Financial Services LLC grew its position in shares of 3M by 89.9% in the 4th quarter. CGC Financial Services LLC now owns 338 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $37,000 after acquiring an additional 160 shares in the last quarter. VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC grew its position in shares of 3M by 91.9% in the 3rd quarter. VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC now owns 449 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $42,000 after acquiring an additional 215 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Psagot Value Holdings Ltd. Israel acquired a new position in shares of 3M in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $44,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 65.25% of the company’s stock.

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 stock was sold at an average price of $92.32, for a total transaction of $39,328.32. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 3,966 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $366,141.12. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 0.34% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MMM has been the subject of several research reports. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their target price on 3M from $84.00 to $78.00 and set an “underperform” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 2nd. StockNews.com upgraded 3M from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday. Mizuho restated a “neutral” rating and set a $105.00 price objective on shares of 3M in a research report on Wednesday, March 27th. Bank of America reduced their price objective on 3M from $110.00 to $100.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 2nd. Finally, Citigroup boosted their price objective on 3M from $95.31 to $98.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, April 8th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating, one has issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $104.00.

3M Trading Up 0.4 %

Shares of 3M stock opened at $91.80 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.76, a current ratio of 1.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.69. The firm has a market cap of $50.80 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -7.27, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.73 and a beta of 1.02. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $95.71 and a 200-day simple moving average of $97.37. 3M has a fifty-two week low of $71.12 and a fifty-two week high of $95.67.

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

3M Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 12th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 16th were issued a dividend of $1.51 per share. This represents a $6.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.58%. This is an increase from 3M’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.50. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 15th. 3M’s dividend payout ratio is currently -47.82%.

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.