Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund Acquires 16,722 Shares of 3M (NYSE:MMM)

Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund grew its holdings in shares of 3M (NYSE:MMM) by 17.1% in the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 114,707 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after purchasing an additional 16,722 shares during the quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund’s holdings in 3M were worth $12,167,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MMM. Norges Bank bought a new position in 3M during the fourth quarter worth about $502,585,000. Pacer Advisors Inc. boosted its position in shares of 3M by 1,273.9% in the fourth quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 3,783,726 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $413,637,000 after acquiring an additional 3,508,334 shares during the period. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. boosted its position in shares of 3M by 313.8% in the fourth quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 2,650,961 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $289,803,000 after acquiring an additional 2,010,319 shares during the period. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of 3M by 157.2% in the fourth quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 1,805,496 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $197,377,000 after acquiring an additional 1,103,459 shares during the period. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its position in shares of 3M by 8,766.0% in the fourth quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 1,080,940 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $118,168,000 after acquiring an additional 1,068,748 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 65.25% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on MMM shares. Citigroup raised their price objective on shares of 3M from $98.00 to $100.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 1st. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price objective on shares of 3M from $78.00 to $87.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 1st. Barclays raised their target price on shares of 3M from $118.00 to $120.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Bank of America raised shares of 3M from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their target price for the company from $105.00 to $120.00 in a research note on Friday, June 7th. Finally, UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of 3M from $98.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 1st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $112.17.

3M Trading Up 0.8 %

Shares of MMM traded up $0.81 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $104.04. The company had a trading volume of 3,381,190 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,275,191. 3M has a 52-week low of $71.12 and a 52-week high of $106.04. The company has a quick ratio of 1.27, a current ratio of 1.64 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.17. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $100.72 and its 200 day moving average price is $98.95. The firm has a market cap of $57.57 billion, a P/E ratio of -8.18, a P/E/G ratio of 1.93 and a beta of 0.95.

3M (NYSE:MMM) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 30th. The conglomerate reported $2.39 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.10 by $0.29. The business had revenue of $8 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.64 billion. 3M had a positive return on equity of 95.80% and a negative net margin of 21.57%. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.97 EPS. On average, research analysts predict that 3M will post 7.17 EPS for the current year.

3M Cuts Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 12th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 24th were issued a $0.70 dividend. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.69%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, May 23rd. 3M’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -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.