Ransom Advisory Ltd Makes New $835,000 Investment in 3M Company $MMM

Key Points

• Ransom Advisory Ltd has made a new investment in 3M Company, purchasing 5,685 shares valued at approximately $835,000.
• Several institutional investors, including Invesco Ltd. and UBS AM, have increased their stakes in 3M, with hedge funds now owning 65.25% of the stock.
• 3M reported a quarterly earnings per share (EPS) of $2.16, exceeding analysts' estimates by $0.15, along with a net margin of 16.01% for the quarter.

Ransom Advisory Ltd acquired a new position in 3M Company (NYSE:MMM - Free Report) in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 5,685 shares of the conglomerate's stock, valued at approximately $835,000.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Financial Gravity Asset Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of 3M in the 1st quarter worth about $2,506,000. Synergy Asset Management LLC increased its position in 3M by 122.7% in the 1st quarter. Synergy Asset Management LLC now owns 4,512 shares of the conglomerate's stock valued at $663,000 after buying an additional 2,486 shares in the last quarter. Northstar Group Inc. bought a new stake in 3M in the 1st quarter valued at about $262,000. Dynamic Advisor Solutions LLC bought a new stake in 3M in the 1st quarter valued at about $786,000. Finally, Retirement Systems of Alabama increased its position in 3M by 210.6% in the 1st quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama now owns 366,236 shares of the conglomerate's stock valued at $53,785,000 after buying an additional 248,333 shares in the last quarter. 65.25% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MMM has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Citigroup boosted their target price on 3M from $141.00 to $160.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, May 30th. Barclays set a $170.00 price objective on 3M in a report on Friday, July 18th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. set a $167.00 price objective on 3M in a report on Friday, July 18th. Wells Fargo & Company restated an "overweight" rating on shares of 3M in a research note on Friday, July 18th. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a "hold (c+)" rating on shares of 3M in a research note on Saturday, August 30th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $161.78.

3M Trading Down 1.1%

NYSE MMM traded down $1.79 during trading on Monday, hitting $156.08. 1,411,948 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,727,962. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.87, a current ratio of 1.72 and a quick ratio of 1.20. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $154.05 and a two-hundred day moving average of $147.95. The firm has a market cap of $83.14 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.71, a PEG ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 1.04. 3M Company has a 12-month low of $121.98 and a 12-month high of $164.15.

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

3M Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 12th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 25th were issued a $0.73 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 25th. This represents a $2.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.9%. 3M's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 40.61%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other 3M news, insider Christian T. Goralski, Jr. sold 6,165 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $150.18, for a total transaction of $925,859.70. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 2,900 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $435,522. This trade 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 is accessible through this link. Also, CAO Theresa E. Reinseth sold 3,477 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 2,561 shares of the company's stock, valued at $385,763.43. This represents a 57.59% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.34% of the stock is currently owned by company 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.