Courier Capital LLC Decreases Holdings in 3M (NYSE:MMM)

Courier Capital LLC decreased its position in shares of 3M (NYSE:MMM) by 6.4% during the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 15,399 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after selling 1,048 shares during the period. Courier Capital LLC’s holdings in 3M were worth $1,633,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of MMM. Dark Forest Capital Management LP purchased a new stake in shares of 3M during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $535,000. Trexquant Investment LP raised its position in shares of 3M by 448.0% during the 3rd quarter. Trexquant Investment LP now owns 43,787 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $4,099,000 after purchasing an additional 35,796 shares during the last quarter. Synovus Financial Corp raised its position in shares of 3M by 10.5% during the 3rd quarter. Synovus Financial Corp now owns 58,585 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $5,486,000 after purchasing an additional 5,571 shares during the last quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia raised its position in shares of 3M by 11.7% during the 3rd quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia now owns 61,541 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $5,762,000 after purchasing an additional 6,425 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cape Cod Five Cents Savings Bank raised its position in shares of 3M by 59.2% during the 3rd quarter. Cape Cod Five Cents Savings Bank now owns 30,320 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $2,839,000 after purchasing an additional 11,269 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 65.25% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Bank of America upgraded 3M from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $105.00 to $120.00 in a research report on Friday, June 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded 3M from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $110.00 to $111.00 in a research report on Wednesday, May 1st. Wolfe Research upgraded 3M from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $125.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Thursday, June 13th. UBS Group lifted their price objective on 3M from $98.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 1st. Finally, HSBC upgraded 3M from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $91.13 to $115.00 in a report on Friday, May 10th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $111.58.

3M Price Performance

Shares of MMM opened at $102.18 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $99.23 and a two-hundred day moving average of $99.28. The company has a current ratio of 1.64, a quick ratio of 1.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.17. 3M has a fifty-two week low of $71.12 and a fifty-two week high of $106.04.

3M (NYSE:MMM) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 30th. The conglomerate reported $2.39 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.10 by $0.29. The business had revenue of $8 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.64 billion. 3M had a positive return on equity of 95.80% and a negative net margin of 21.57%. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.97 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that 3M will post 7.09 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

3M Cuts Dividend

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

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.