Asahi Life Asset Management CO. LTD. Buys 603 Shares of 3M (NYSE:MMM)

Asahi Life Asset Management CO. LTD. lifted its stake in shares of 3M (NYSE:MMM) by 6.9% in the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 9,343 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after acquiring an additional 603 shares during the period. Asahi Life Asset Management CO. LTD.’s holdings in 3M were worth $1,277,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Stonegate Investment Group LLC lifted its stake in 3M by 5.6% in the third quarter. Stonegate Investment Group LLC now owns 252,847 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $34,564,000 after purchasing an additional 13,473 shares during the last quarter. Ausdal Financial Partners Inc. lifted its stake in 3M by 6.7% in the second quarter. Ausdal Financial Partners Inc. now owns 3,991 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $408,000 after purchasing an additional 249 shares during the last quarter. Candriam S.C.A. lifted its stake in 3M by 19.2% in the second quarter. Candriam S.C.A. now owns 38,469 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $3,931,000 after purchasing an additional 6,185 shares during the last quarter. True Vision MN LLC bought a new stake in 3M in the second quarter worth $512,000. Finally, Ballentine Partners LLC lifted its stake in 3M by 40.1% in the third quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC now owns 18,217 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $2,490,000 after purchasing an additional 5,210 shares during the last quarter. 65.25% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MMM has been the subject of several recent research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on shares of 3M from $160.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday. Melius upgraded shares of 3M from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. StockNews.com cut shares of 3M from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, July 29th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded shares of 3M from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $110.00 to $150.00 in a research report on Monday, July 29th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on shares of 3M from $99.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $139.27.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other 3M news, CFO Theresa E. Reinseth sold 2,100 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $124.12, for a total value of $260,652.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 4,364 shares in the company, valued at approximately $541,659.68. This represents a 0.00 % 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. In other news, Chairman Michael F. Roman sold 5,675 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $123.46, for a total value of $700,635.50. Following the transaction, the chairman now owns 174,036 shares in the company, valued at approximately $21,486,484.56. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CFO Theresa E. Reinseth sold 2,100 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $124.12, for a total transaction of $260,652.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 4,364 shares in the company, valued at approximately $541,659.68. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

3M Trading Up 4.4 %

Shares of NYSE MMM traded up $5.44 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $130.19. 1,735,617 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 4,932,979. 3M has a 12-month low of $73.15 and a 12-month high of $141.34. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.41, a quick ratio of 1.08 and a current ratio of 1.43. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $133.00 and a 200 day moving average price of $114.18. The firm has a market cap of $72.04 billion, a P/E ratio of -10.11, a P/E/G ratio of 2.42 and a beta of 0.95.

3M (NYSE:MMM) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 22nd. The conglomerate reported $1.98 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.93 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $6.29 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.06 billion. 3M had a net margin of 15.37% and a return on equity of 104.66%. The business’s revenue was down 24.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $2.68 earnings per share. As a group, analysts expect that 3M will post 7.26 earnings per share for the current year.

3M Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 12th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 26th were issued a $0.70 dividend. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.15%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 26th. 3M’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -22.01%.

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.