Yousif Capital Management LLC Trims Holdings in 3M (NYSE:MMM)

Yousif Capital Management LLC lessened its stake in 3M (NYSE:MMM) by 7.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 137,403 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after selling 11,071 shares during the period. Yousif Capital Management LLC’s holdings in 3M were worth $15,021,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of 3M by 0.7% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 49,033,679 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $4,590,533,000 after purchasing an additional 317,483 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. increased its holdings in 3M by 2.4% in the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 4,082,950 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $382,246,000 after buying an additional 94,864 shares during the last quarter. Nuance Investments LLC raised its stake in 3M by 10.1% during the third quarter. Nuance Investments LLC now owns 4,062,557 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $380,337,000 after buying an additional 371,935 shares in the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in 3M by 1,273.9% during 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 during the last quarter. Finally, Van ECK Associates Corp lifted its holdings in 3M by 20.8% during the 3rd quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 2,944,135 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $275,630,000 after buying an additional 506,654 shares during the last quarter. 65.25% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MMM has been the topic of several research reports. Barclays dropped their price target on 3M from $126.00 to $107.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 2nd. Mizuho restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $105.00 price target on shares of 3M in a research report on Wednesday, March 27th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on shares of 3M from $112.00 to $105.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on shares of 3M from $118.00 to $110.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 17th. Finally, Citigroup raised their target price on shares of 3M from $95.31 to $98.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, April 8th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating, one has assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $104.00.

3M Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:MMM traded down $1.09 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $91.91. The stock had a trading volume of 2,261,991 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,757,208. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $95.73 and its 200 day simple moving average is $97.43. The firm has a market capitalization of $50.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -7.29, a PEG ratio of 1.83 and a beta of 1.02. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.69, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a current ratio of 1.07. 3M has a 1-year low of $71.12 and a 1-year high of $95.67.

3M (NYSE:MMM) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, January 23rd. The conglomerate reported $2.42 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 firm earned $2.28 EPS. The firm’s revenue was down 1.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts anticipate that 3M will post 7.87 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

3M Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.57%. This is a positive change from 3M’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.50. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 15th. 3M’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is -47.82%.

Insider Activity at 3M

In related news, insider Rodriguez Beatriz Karin Chavez sold 426 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $92.32, for a total value of $39,328.32. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 3,966 shares in the company, valued at approximately $366,141.12. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Company insiders own 0.38% of the company’s stock.

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.