Clarius Group LLC Purchases Shares of 1,706 3M (NYSE:MMM)

Clarius Group LLC acquired a new position in 3M (NYSE:MMM) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 1,706 shares of the conglomerate’s stock, valued at approximately $220,000.

Other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. State Street Corp raised its stake in shares of 3M by 1.1% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 27,194,612 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $3,717,503,000 after acquiring an additional 302,900 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC boosted its stake in 3M by 88.7% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 8,961,866 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $1,225,087,000 after acquiring an additional 4,212,409 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC increased its position in 3M by 1.2% during the 3rd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 3,815,625 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $521,596,000 after buying an additional 43,942 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in 3M by 18.6% in the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 2,531,422 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $258,686,000 after purchasing an additional 396,773 shares in the last quarter. Finally, National Pension Service boosted its stake in 3M by 14.5% during the 3rd quarter. National Pension Service now owns 1,268,003 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $173,336,000 after purchasing an additional 161,036 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 65.25% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the company. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on 3M from $130.00 to $140.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, October 7th. UBS Group upgraded shares of 3M from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $130.00 to $184.00 in a research report on Wednesday, November 13th. Melius Research raised shares of 3M from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $180.00 target price for the company in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of 3M in a report on Saturday. Finally, Barclays decreased their price objective on shares of 3M from $165.00 to $161.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $144.13.

3M Price Performance

MMM stock opened at $141.02 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.08, a current ratio of 1.43 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.41. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $131.24 and a 200 day moving average price of $127.93. The stock has a market cap of $76.80 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.81, a PEG ratio of 2.01 and a beta of 0.95. 3M has a fifty-two week low of $75.40 and a fifty-two week high of $141.66.

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

3M Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, December 12th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 15th were issued a $0.70 dividend. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.99%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 15th. 3M’s payout ratio is currently 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.