Hennessy Advisors Inc. Purchases 25,000 Shares of 3M (NYSE:MMM)

Hennessy Advisors Inc. boosted its position in shares of 3M (NYSE:MMM) by 60.4% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 66,400 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after purchasing an additional 25,000 shares during the quarter. Hennessy Advisors Inc.’s holdings in 3M were worth $7,043,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Financial Synergies Wealth Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in 3M by 419.1% during the 1st quarter. Financial Synergies Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 244 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 197 shares during the last quarter. Northwest Investment Counselors LLC bought a new stake in 3M during the 1st quarter worth about $32,000. Livelsberger Financial Advisory bought a new stake in 3M during the 4th quarter worth about $35,000. CGC Financial Services LLC raised its holdings in 3M by 89.9% during the 4th quarter. CGC Financial Services LLC now owns 338 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $37,000 after purchasing an additional 160 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cape Investment Advisory Inc. raised its holdings in 3M by 42.8% during the 4th quarter. Cape Investment Advisory Inc. now owns 387 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $42,000 after purchasing an additional 116 shares during the last quarter. 65.25% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts recently weighed in on MMM shares. Wolfe Research upgraded shares of 3M from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $125.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Thursday, June 13th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price target 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. Vertical Research upgraded shares of 3M from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price target for the company from $92.00 to $140.00 in a research report on Thursday, May 16th. Citigroup increased their price target 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. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded shares of 3M from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their price target for the company from $110.00 to $111.00 in a research report on Wednesday, May 1st. One equities 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 stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $111.58.

3M Stock Down 1.1 %

MMM stock traded down $1.15 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $102.02. 1,530,711 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 5,490,642. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.17, a quick ratio of 1.27 and a current ratio of 1.64. The firm has a market cap of $56.45 billion, a P/E ratio of -8.10, a P/E/G ratio of 1.91 and a beta of 0.96. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $98.80 and its 200 day simple moving average is $99.26. 3M has a 1-year low of $71.12 and a 1-year high of $106.04.

3M (NYSE:MMM) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, April 30th. The conglomerate reported $2.39 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.10 by $0.29. The firm had revenue of $8 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.64 billion. 3M had a negative net margin of 21.57% and a positive return on equity of 95.80%. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.97 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that 3M will post 7.09 EPS for the current fiscal year.

3M Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 12th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 24th were paid a dividend of $0.70 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, May 23rd. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.74%. 3M’s dividend payout ratio is currently -22.01%.

3M 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.