3M (NYSE:MMM) Shares Sold by Loomis Sayles & Co. L P

Loomis Sayles & Co. L P reduced its stake in shares of 3M (NYSE:MMM) by 46.2% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 566 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after selling 487 shares during the period. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P’s holdings in 3M were worth $73,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. NEOS Investment Management LLC lifted its position in shares of 3M by 30.9% in the fourth quarter. NEOS Investment Management LLC now owns 31,618 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $4,082,000 after acquiring an additional 7,463 shares in the last quarter. UniSuper Management Pty Ltd raised its stake in 3M by 27.2% in the 4th quarter. UniSuper Management Pty Ltd now owns 38,958 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $5,029,000 after purchasing an additional 8,329 shares during the last quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of 3M by 5.4% during the 4th quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 987,896 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $128,298,000 after purchasing an additional 50,641 shares during the last quarter. 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 worth $574,000 after buying an additional 633 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Financial Engines Advisors L.L.C. raised its position in shares of 3M by 204.2% in the fourth quarter. Financial Engines Advisors L.L.C. now owns 6,377 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $823,000 after buying an additional 4,281 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 65.25% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have commented on MMM. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “underperform” rating and issued a $96.00 target price on shares of 3M in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. Barclays upped their target price on 3M from $161.00 to $165.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. Bank of America raised their price target on 3M from $175.00 to $179.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 6th. Wells Fargo & Company raised shares of 3M from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $140.00 to $170.00 in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of 3M from $162.00 to $165.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, 3M currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $149.13.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other 3M news, CAO Theresa E. Reinseth sold 2,309 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $149.95, for a total value of $346,234.55. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 4,417 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $662,329.15. This represents a 34.33 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Victoria Clarke sold 1,750 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $154.22, for a total transaction of $269,885.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 194 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $29,918.68. The trade was a 90.02 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 113,639 shares of company stock worth $17,163,446 in the last quarter. 0.34% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

3M Stock Down 2.5 %

Shares of NYSE MMM opened at $144.74 on Monday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $149.60 and a 200 day moving average price of $138.29. The company has a market cap of $78.58 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.17, a P/E/G ratio of 3.30 and a beta of 0.97. 3M has a 12-month low of $88.23 and a 12-month high of $156.35. The company has a current ratio of 1.41, a quick ratio of 1.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.86.

3M (NYSE:MMM) last released 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 return on equity of 100.77% and a net margin of 15.71%. The firm had revenue of $6.01 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.77 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.42 EPS. 3M’s revenue for the quarter was down 25.0% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts anticipate that 3M will post 7.8 EPS for the current fiscal year.

3M Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 12th. Investors of record on Friday, February 14th were paid a dividend of $0.73 per share. This is an increase from 3M’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.70. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 14th. This represents a $2.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.02%. 3M’s payout ratio is 38.68%.

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.