Hennessy Advisors Inc. Has $5.24 Million Stock Holdings in 3M (NYSE:MMM)

Hennessy Advisors Inc. lowered its stake in 3M (NYSE:MMM) by 32.4% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 40,550 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after selling 19,400 shares during the period. Hennessy Advisors Inc.’s holdings in 3M were worth $5,235,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of MMM. FMR LLC grew its stake in shares of 3M by 88.7% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 8,961,866 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $1,225,087,000 after buying an additional 4,212,409 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its position in shares of 3M by 11,601.2% in the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 1,261,270 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $172,416,000 after acquiring an additional 1,250,491 shares during the period. Electron Capital Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of 3M during the 2nd quarter worth about $76,732,000. Jennison Associates LLC bought a new stake in shares of 3M in the 3rd quarter valued at about $82,208,000. Finally, Parsifal Capital Management LP lifted its stake in 3M by 179.0% in the 3rd quarter. Parsifal Capital Management LP now owns 820,094 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $112,107,000 after purchasing an additional 526,194 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 65.25% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have issued reports on MMM. Bank of America upped their price objective on 3M from $143.00 to $160.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Mizuho lifted their price objective on shares of 3M from $105.00 to $146.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Melius Research upgraded shares of 3M from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $180.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their target price on shares of 3M from $100.00 to $96.00 and set an “underperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 3rd. Finally, Barclays lowered their price target on shares of 3M from $165.00 to $161.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $144.13.

3M Price Performance

3M stock opened at $141.02 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $76.80 billion, a PE ratio of 17.81, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.01 and a beta of 0.95. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.41, a current ratio of 1.43 and a quick ratio of 1.08. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $131.11 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $127.28. 3M has a one year low of $75.40 and a one year high of $141.66.

3M (NYSE:MMM) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The conglomerate reported $1.98 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.93 by $0.05. 3M had a return on equity of 104.66% and a net margin of 15.37%. The company had revenue of $6.29 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.06 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $2.68 earnings per share. 3M’s revenue was down 24.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts expect that 3M will post 7.27 EPS for the current fiscal year.

3M Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, December 12th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 15th were issued a dividend of $0.70 per share. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.99%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 15th. 3M’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 35.35%.

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.