Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund Sells 9,167 Shares of 3M (NYSE:MMM)

Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund decreased its stake in 3M (NYSE:MMM - Free Report) by 8.6% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 97,985 shares of the conglomerate's stock after selling 9,167 shares during the quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund's holdings in 3M were worth $10,712,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS lifted its stake in 3M by 15.4% in the third quarter. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS now owns 110,988 shares of the conglomerate's stock valued at $10,391,000 after buying an additional 14,775 shares during the period. Cornerstone Wealth Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of 3M during the third quarter worth about $3,855,000. Shoker Investment Counsel Inc. raised its position in shares of 3M by 49.7% during the third quarter. Shoker Investment Counsel Inc. now owns 16,747 shares of the conglomerate's stock worth $1,568,000 after purchasing an additional 5,561 shares during the period. Diversified Trust Co raised its position in shares of 3M by 1.4% during the fourth quarter. Diversified Trust Co now owns 18,487 shares of the conglomerate's stock worth $2,021,000 after purchasing an additional 263 shares during the period. Finally, MWA Asset Management acquired a new stake in shares of 3M during the fourth quarter worth about $1,723,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 65.25% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on the company. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price target on 3M from $84.00 to $78.00 and set an "underperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 2nd. StockNews.com upgraded 3M from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, April 16th. Mizuho reiterated a "neutral" rating and set a $105.00 price objective on shares of 3M in a report on Wednesday, March 27th. Citigroup increased their price objective on 3M from $95.31 to $98.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Monday, April 8th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on 3M from $112.00 to $105.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 24th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating, one has given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, 3M presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $104.00.

3M Stock Up 0.4 %

MMM stock traded up $0.38 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $93.00. The company had a trading volume of 3,694,505 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,803,995. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.69, a current ratio of 1.07 and a quick ratio of 0.76. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $95.72 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $97.40. The company has a market capitalization of $51.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -7.36, a PEG ratio of 1.63 and a beta of 1.02. 3M has a 52 week low of $71.12 and a 52 week high of $95.67.

3M (NYSE:MMM - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, January 23rd. The conglomerate reported $2.42 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.31 by $0.11. 3M had a positive return on equity of 62.45% and a negative net margin of 21.40%. The company had revenue of $8.01 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.69 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.28 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was down 1.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts predict that 3M will post 8.79 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

3M Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 12th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 16th were paid a dividend of $1.51 per share. This is an increase from 3M's previous quarterly dividend of $1.50. This represents a $6.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.49%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 15th. 3M's payout ratio is currently -47.82%.

Insider Transactions at 3M

In other news, insider Rodriguez Beatriz Karin Chavez sold 426 shares of 3M 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 completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 3,966 shares in the company, valued at approximately $366,141.12. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.38% 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.