Kingdon Capital Management L.L.C. Boosts Position in 3M Company $MMM

Key Points

• Kingdon Capital Management L.L.C. has increased its stake in 3M Company by 4.3%, acquiring an additional 5,000 shares, bringing its total holdings to 120,000 shares valued at approximately $17.6 million.
• In its latest earnings report, 3M announced a quarterly EPS of $2.16, surpassing expectations and showing a year-over-year revenue increase of 1.4% to $6.16 billion.
• 3M has announced a quarterly dividend of $0.73 per share, with a future payment date set for September 12th, representing an annualized yield of 1.9%.

Kingdon Capital Management L.L.C. boosted its holdings in shares of 3M Company (NYSE:MMM - Free Report) by 4.3% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 120,000 shares of the conglomerate's stock after acquiring an additional 5,000 shares during the period. 3M comprises 1.9% of Kingdon Capital Management L.L.C.'s portfolio, making the stock its 5th largest holding. Kingdon Capital Management L.L.C.'s holdings in 3M were worth $17,623,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. REAP Financial Group LLC raised its position in 3M by 88.7% during the fourth quarter. REAP Financial Group LLC now owns 200 shares of the conglomerate's stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 94 shares during the last quarter. Pinney & Scofield Inc. acquired a new position in 3M during the fourth quarter worth about $28,000. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd acquired a new position in shares of 3M in the first quarter valued at approximately $28,000. WPG Advisers LLC acquired a new position in shares of 3M in the first quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Finally, Curat Global LLC acquired a new position in shares of 3M in the first quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 65.25% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Citigroup boosted their price objective on shares of 3M from $141.00 to $160.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, May 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. set a $167.00 price objective on shares of 3M in a research report on Friday, July 18th. Wells Fargo & Company reissued an "overweight" rating on shares of 3M in a research report on Friday, July 18th. Weiss Ratings reissued a "hold (c+)" rating on shares of 3M in a research report on Saturday. Finally, Barclays set a $170.00 price objective on shares of 3M in a research report on Friday, July 18th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have issued a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $158.10.

3M Trading Down 1.5%

MMM traded down $2.36 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $151.91. 3,673,546 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,785,903. The company has a current ratio of 1.72, a quick ratio of 1.20 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.87. 3M Company has a 1 year low of $121.98 and a 1 year high of $164.15. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $153.56 and a 200 day moving average price of $147.56. The firm has a market cap of $80.91 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.13, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 1.04.

3M (NYSE:MMM - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, July 18th. The conglomerate reported $2.16 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.01 by $0.15. 3M had a net margin of 16.01% and a return on equity of 96.48%. The company had revenue of $6.16 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.09 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.93 earnings per share. 3M's revenue for the quarter was up 1.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts expect that 3M Company will post 7.8 EPS for the current fiscal year.

3M Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 12th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 25th will be paid a $0.73 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, August 25th. This represents a $2.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.9%. 3M's dividend payout ratio is 40.61%.

Insider Buying and Selling at 3M

In other news, insider Christian T. Goralski, Jr. sold 6,165 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $150.18, for a total value of $925,859.70. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 2,900 shares in the company, valued at approximately $435,522. This represents a 68.01% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CAO Theresa E. Reinseth sold 3,477 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $150.63, for a total transaction of $523,740.51. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 2,561 shares of the company's stock, valued at $385,763.43. This trade represents a 57.59% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.48% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.