3M (NYSE:MMM) Shares Bought by Aviance Capital Partners LLC

Aviance Capital Partners LLC increased its holdings in 3M (NYSE:MMM) by 21.2% in the first quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 5,288 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after buying an additional 925 shares during the quarter. Aviance Capital Partners LLC’s holdings in 3M were worth $561,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of 3M in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $502,585,000. Pacer Advisors Inc. grew its position in shares of 3M by 1,273.9% in the fourth quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 3,783,726 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $413,637,000 after purchasing an additional 3,508,334 shares in the last quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. grew its position in shares of 3M by 313.8% in the fourth quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 2,650,961 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $289,803,000 after purchasing an additional 2,010,319 shares in the last quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of 3M by 157.2% in the fourth quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 1,805,496 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $197,377,000 after purchasing an additional 1,103,459 shares in the last quarter. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its position in shares of 3M by 8,766.0% in the fourth quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 1,080,940 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $118,168,000 after purchasing an additional 1,068,748 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 65.25% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Wolfe Research upgraded 3M from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $125.00 price target for the company in a research report on Thursday, June 13th. Mizuho restated a “neutral” rating and set a $105.00 price target on shares of 3M in a research report on Wednesday, March 27th. Citigroup raised their price target on 3M from $98.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 1st. UBS Group raised their price target on 3M from $98.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 1st. Finally, Barclays raised their price target on 3M from $112.00 to $118.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 28th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, 3M has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $111.58.

3M Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE MMM traded down $0.58 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $101.61. 475,093 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 5,487,843. 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 1 year low of $71.12 and a 1 year high of $106.04. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $99.23 and a 200 day simple moving average of $99.22. The stock has a market cap of $56.23 billion, a P/E ratio of -8.03, a PEG ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 0.95.

3M (NYSE:MMM) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 30th. The conglomerate reported $2.39 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.10 by $0.29. 3M had a positive return on equity of 95.80% and a negative net margin of 21.57%. The firm had revenue of $8 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.64 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.97 earnings per share. On average, research analysts forecast that 3M will post 7.17 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

3M Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 12th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 24th were issued a $0.70 dividend. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.76%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, May 23rd. 3M’s dividend payout ratio is presently -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.