Machina Capital S.A.S. Has $449,000 Stock Position in 3M (NYSE:MMM)

Machina Capital S.A.S. lowered its stake in 3M (NYSE:MMM) by 35.2% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 4,108 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after selling 2,235 shares during the quarter. Machina Capital S.A.S.’s holdings in 3M were worth $449,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS raised its position in shares of 3M by 15.4% in the third 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. boosted its holdings 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 worth $1,568,000 after acquiring an additional 5,561 shares during the period. MWA Asset Management acquired a new position in shares of 3M in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,723,000. Diversified Trust Co lifted its holdings in 3M by 1.4% during the 4th quarter. Diversified Trust Co now owns 18,487 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $2,021,000 after purchasing an additional 263 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board acquired a new position in 3M in the 3rd quarter valued at $11,908,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 65.25% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Citigroup boosted their target price 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. Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price on shares of 3M from $78.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 1st. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on shares of 3M from $112.00 to $105.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 24th. Barclays decreased their target price on shares of 3M from $126.00 to $107.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 2nd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded shares of 3M from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $110.00 to $111.00 in a research report on Wednesday, May 1st. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating, two have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $103.70.

Insider Transactions at 3M

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

3M Stock Performance

NYSE:MMM traded down $0.56 during trading on Monday, reaching $96.59. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 4,328,471 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,885,180. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $96.24 and a 200-day moving average of $97.77. 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 $53.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -7.59, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.79 and a beta of 1.00. 3M has a 12 month low of $71.12 and a 12 month high of $99.70.

3M (NYSE:MMM) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, April 30th. The conglomerate reported $2.39 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 the consensus estimate of $7.64 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.97 EPS. Research analysts expect that 3M will post 7.23 EPS for the current fiscal year.

3M Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 12th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 16th were issued a dividend of $1.51 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 15th. This is an increase from 3M’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.50. This represents a $6.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.25%. 3M’s dividend payout ratio 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.