River Global Investors LLP Purchases 1,480 Shares of 3M (NYSE:MMM)

River Global Investors LLP lifted its position in shares of 3M (NYSE:MMM) by 12.3% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 13,499 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,480 shares during the period. River Global Investors LLP’s holdings in 3M were worth $1,476,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS increased its position in 3M by 15.4% during the 3rd quarter. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS now owns 110,988 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $10,391,000 after purchasing an additional 14,775 shares during the period. Shoker Investment Counsel Inc. increased its position in shares of 3M by 49.7% during the third quarter. Shoker Investment Counsel Inc. now owns 16,747 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $1,568,000 after buying an additional 5,561 shares during the period. MWA Asset Management purchased a new position in shares of 3M during the fourth quarter valued at about $1,723,000. Diversified Trust Co lifted its holdings in 3M by 1.4% in the fourth quarter. Diversified Trust Co now owns 18,487 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $2,021,000 after buying an additional 263 shares during the period. Finally, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board bought a new stake in 3M during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $11,908,000. 65.25% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Rodriguez Beatriz Karin Chavez sold 426 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 14th. The shares were 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 owns 3,966 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $366,141.12. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 0.34% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently commented on MMM. UBS Group raised their target price on 3M from $98.00 to $100.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price target on shares of 3M from $78.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Citigroup boosted their price objective on shares of 3M from $98.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Mizuho reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $105.00 target price on shares of 3M in a report on Wednesday, March 27th. Finally, StockNews.com raised 3M from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 25th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating, two have assigned 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 a consensus price target of $103.70.

3M Stock Performance

Shares of 3M stock traded up $0.34 during trading on Friday, hitting $97.15. 4,818,713 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 4,770,578. 3M has a 1 year low of $71.12 and a 1 year high of $99.70. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $96.14 and a 200-day simple moving average of $97.71. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.17, a current ratio of 1.64 and a quick ratio of 0.76. The stock has a market capitalization of $53.76 billion, a P/E ratio of -7.64, a PEG ratio of 1.78 and a beta of 1.00.

3M (NYSE:MMM) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 30th. The conglomerate reported $2.39 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.10 by $0.29. 3M had a negative net margin of 21.57% and a positive return on equity of 95.80%. The firm had revenue of $8 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.64 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.97 earnings per share. As a group, analysts forecast that 3M will post 7.23 EPS for the current year.

3M Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 12th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 16th were paid a $1.51 dividend. This is an increase from 3M’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.50. This represents a $6.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.22%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 15th. 3M’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is -47.48%.

3M Company Profile

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.