Kentucky Retirement Systems Grows Position in 3M (NYSE:MMM)

Kentucky Retirement Systems boosted its holdings in 3M (NYSE:MMM – Get Rating) by 2.6% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 43,336 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,101 shares during the quarter. Kentucky Retirement Systems’ holdings in 3M were worth $4,789,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of MMM. Cetera Advisor Networks LLC grew its holdings in 3M by 10.6% in the second quarter. Cetera Advisor Networks LLC now owns 105,769 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $13,687,000 after purchasing an additional 10,105 shares during the last quarter. Key Financial Inc grew its holdings in 3M by 184.0% in the third quarter. Key Financial Inc now owns 3,209 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $355,000 after purchasing an additional 2,079 shares during the last quarter. Ieq Capital LLC grew its holdings in 3M by 186.4% in the third quarter. Ieq Capital LLC now owns 13,008 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $1,437,000 after purchasing an additional 8,466 shares during the last quarter. Atlas Capital Advisors LLC grew its holdings in 3M by 13.8% in the second quarter. Atlas Capital Advisors LLC now owns 6,602 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $854,000 after purchasing an additional 800 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Symmetry Partners LLC grew its holdings in 3M by 17.8% in the third quarter. Symmetry Partners LLC now owns 8,922 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $986,000 after purchasing an additional 1,346 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 65.61% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have weighed in on MMM. Barclays lowered their target price on 3M from $130.00 to $122.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 25th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on 3M from $125.00 to $115.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, January 25th. UBS Group decreased their price objective on 3M from $124.00 to $115.00 in a research note on Wednesday, January 25th. Citigroup increased their price objective on 3M from $117.00 to $126.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, December 9th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada decreased their price objective on 3M from $113.00 to $106.00 in a research note on Wednesday, January 25th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and ten have assigned a hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $125.92.

3M Stock Performance

3M stock opened at $102.78 on Wednesday. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $115.53 and its 200-day moving average is $119.07. The company has a market cap of $56.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.13, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.27 and a beta of 0.96. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.95, a current ratio of 1.54 and a quick ratio of 0.98. 3M has a 12 month low of $101.37 and a 12 month high of $154.66.

3M (NYSE:MMM – Get Rating) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 24th. The conglomerate reported $2.28 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.34 by ($0.06). The firm had revenue of $8.10 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.09 billion. 3M had a return on equity of 39.72% and a net margin of 16.88%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 5.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $2.31 earnings per share. Equities analysts anticipate that 3M will post 8.64 earnings per share for the current year.

3M Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Sunday, March 12th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 17th were issued a $1.50 dividend. This represents a $6.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.84%. This is an increase from 3M’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.49. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 16th. 3M’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 59.11%.

3M Company Profile

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3M Co is a technology company, which manufactures industrial, safety, and consumer products. It operates through the following segments: Safety and Industrial, Transportation and Electronics, Health Care, Consumer, and Corporate and Unallocated. The Safety and Industrial segment consists of personal safety, industrial adhesives and tapes, abrasives, closure and masking systems, electrical markets, automotive aftermarket, and roofing granules.