Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp Sells 37,826 Shares of 3M (NYSE:MMM)

Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp reduced its stake in 3M (NYSE:MMM) by 7.0% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 499,962 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after selling 37,826 shares during the period. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp owned approximately 0.09% of 3M worth $53,031,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Mizuho Markets Americas LLC lifted its position in shares of 3M by 119.3% in the first quarter. Mizuho Markets Americas LLC now owns 110,041 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $11,672,000 after buying an additional 59,854 shares in the last quarter. Poehling Capital Management INC. boosted its position in shares of 3M by 6.6% during the 1st quarter. Poehling Capital Management INC. now owns 69,623 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $7,385,000 after acquiring an additional 4,330 shares during the last quarter. M&G Plc purchased a new position in shares of 3M in the first quarter valued at $15,855,000. GM Advisory Group LLC grew its holdings in shares of 3M by 3.4% in the first quarter. GM Advisory Group LLC now owns 6,014 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $638,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wilkins Investment Counsel Inc. increased its position in 3M by 65.8% in the first quarter. Wilkins Investment Counsel Inc. now owns 152,868 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $16,215,000 after purchasing an additional 60,693 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 65.25% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on MMM. HSBC upgraded shares of 3M from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $91.13 to $115.00 in a report on Friday, May 10th. Wolfe Research upgraded 3M from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $125.00 target price for the company in a research report on Thursday, June 13th. UBS Group lifted their price objective on 3M from $98.00 to $100.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised shares of 3M from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $110.00 to $111.00 in a research report on Wednesday, May 1st. Finally, Mizuho reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $105.00 price objective on shares of 3M in a report on Wednesday, March 27th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, 3M has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $112.17.

3M Stock Down 0.1 %

Shares of MMM stock traded down $0.10 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $103.92. 2,884,897 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,465,231. 3M has a 1 year low of $71.12 and a 1 year high of $106.04. The company has a current ratio of 1.64, a quick ratio of 1.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.17. The stock has a market cap of $57.51 billion, a PE ratio of -8.17, a PEG ratio of 1.93 and a beta of 0.95. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $101.40 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $98.75.

3M (NYSE:MMM) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, April 30th. The conglomerate reported $2.39 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.10 by $0.29. The company had revenue of $8 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.64 billion. 3M had a negative net margin of 21.57% and a positive return on equity of 95.80%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.97 EPS. Research analysts predict that 3M will post 7.17 EPS for the current year.

3M Cuts Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 12th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 24th were given a dividend of $0.70 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, May 23rd. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.69%. 3M’s dividend payout ratio is currently -22.01%.

3M 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.