Natixis Advisors L.P. Increases Position in 3M (NYSE:MMM)

Natixis Advisors L.P. lifted its position in shares of 3M (NYSE:MMM) by 2.0% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 91,669 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,829 shares during the period. Natixis Advisors L.P.’s holdings in 3M were worth $10,021,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in 3M by 0.7% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 49,033,679 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $4,590,533,000 after buying an additional 317,483 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. raised its position in shares of 3M by 2.4% during the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 4,082,950 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $382,246,000 after acquiring an additional 94,864 shares in the last quarter. Nuance Investments LLC lifted its stake in 3M by 10.1% during the third quarter. Nuance Investments LLC now owns 4,062,557 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $380,337,000 after purchasing an additional 371,935 shares during the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in 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. Finally, Van ECK Associates Corp increased its stake in 3M by 20.8% in the third quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 2,944,135 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $275,630,000 after purchasing an additional 506,654 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 65.25% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Mizuho restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $105.00 target price on shares of 3M in a report on Wednesday, March 27th. Bank of America dropped their price objective on 3M from $110.00 to $100.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 2nd. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price on 3M from $78.00 to $87.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 1st. StockNews.com upgraded 3M from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 25th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised 3M from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their price target 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 issued a hold rating, two have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $103.70.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other 3M news, insider Rodriguez Beatriz Karin Chavez sold 426 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 owns 3,966 shares in the company, valued at approximately $366,141.12. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.38% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

3M Price Performance

3M stock opened at $96.35 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.17, a current ratio of 1.64 and a quick ratio of 1.27. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $96.30 and a 200-day simple moving average of $97.84. 3M has a 12 month low of $71.12 and a 12 month high of $99.70. The stock has a market capitalization of $53.32 billion, a PE ratio of -7.57, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.79 and a beta of 1.00.

3M (NYSE:MMM) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 30th. The conglomerate reported $2.39 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 company had revenue of $8 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.64 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.97 EPS. Equities analysts predict that 3M will post 7.23 earnings per share for the current year.

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.