Allianz SE Buys Shares of 16,176 3M (NYSE:MMM)

Allianz SE acquired a new stake in shares of 3M (NYSE:MMM) in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm acquired 16,176 shares of the conglomerate’s stock, valued at approximately $2,089,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Norges Bank acquired a new position in 3M during the 4th quarter valued at about $636,767,000. Amundi increased its holdings in shares of 3M by 55.7% during the fourth quarter. Amundi now owns 2,511,095 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $337,815,000 after acquiring an additional 898,244 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in shares of 3M in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $103,788,000. Parsifal Capital Management LP boosted its stake in 3M by 179.0% in the 3rd quarter. Parsifal Capital Management LP now owns 820,094 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $112,107,000 after purchasing an additional 526,194 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its position in 3M by 9.2% during the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 5,689,486 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $734,456,000 after purchasing an additional 479,621 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 65.25% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MMM has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of 3M from $162.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “underperform” rating and set a $96.00 price target on shares of 3M in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. Barclays increased their price objective on 3M from $161.00 to $165.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of 3M in a report on Saturday, March 22nd. Finally, Bank of America increased their price target on shares of 3M from $175.00 to $179.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, March 6th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, 3M currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $149.13.

3M Stock Down 2.5 %

3M stock opened at $144.74 on Friday. 3M has a 12 month low of $88.23 and a 12 month high of $156.35. The stock has a market capitalization of $78.58 billion, a PE ratio of 19.17, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.30 and a beta of 0.97. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.86, a current ratio of 1.41 and a quick ratio of 1.08. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $149.60 and a 200-day simple moving average of $138.23.

3M (NYSE:MMM) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 21st. The conglomerate reported $1.68 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.66 by $0.02. 3M had a net margin of 15.71% and a return on equity of 100.77%. The company had revenue of $6.01 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.77 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $2.42 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 25.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts anticipate that 3M will post 7.8 EPS for the current fiscal year.

3M Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 12th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 14th were paid a dividend of $0.73 per share. This is a positive change from 3M’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.70. This represents a $2.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.02%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 14th. 3M’s payout ratio is 38.68%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Chairman Michael F. Roman sold 49,598 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $152.30, for a total transaction of $7,553,775.40. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman now directly owns 180,895 shares in the company, valued at approximately $27,550,308.50. The trade was a 21.52 % 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 the SEC website. Also, insider Christian T. Goralski, Jr. sold 6,318 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, January 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $149.43, for a total value of $944,098.74. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 5,024 shares in the company, valued at $750,736.32. The trade was a 55.70 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 113,639 shares of company stock worth $17,163,446. Corporate insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

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.