Dimensional Fund Advisors LP Grows Stock Holdings in 3M (NYSE:MMM)

Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its stake in shares of 3M (NYSE:MMM) by 23.1% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 3,753,484 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after acquiring an additional 703,758 shares during the quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP owned approximately 0.68% of 3M worth $375,673,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich raised its position in 3M by 102,920.1% during the 2nd quarter. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich now owns 39,317,632 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $3,935,302,000 after purchasing an additional 39,279,467 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of 3M by 5.7% in the first quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 11,474,791 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $1,203,635,000 after acquiring an additional 619,370 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in 3M by 7.2% in the first quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 11,315,417 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $1,684,639,000 after acquiring an additional 758,126 shares during the period. Morgan Stanley grew its holdings in 3M by 8.3% during the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 10,769,973 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $1,291,535,000 after acquiring an additional 825,223 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Flossbach Von Storch AG increased its position in 3M by 2.5% during the 2nd quarter. Flossbach Von Storch AG now owns 9,580,844 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $958,947,000 after purchasing an additional 236,753 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 65.24% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on MMM shares. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of 3M from $96.00 to $98.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 25th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on 3M from $115.00 to $93.00 in a report on Monday, October 9th. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their price objective on 3M from $85.00 to $83.00 and set an “underperform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, October 25th. HSBC assumed coverage on shares of 3M in a report on Friday, September 15th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $109.00 price target on the stock. Finally, UBS Group increased their target price on shares of 3M from $95.00 to $115.00 in a research report on Tuesday, July 25th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, 3M has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $104.30.

3M Price Performance

Shares of NYSE MMM opened at $94.97 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.72, a current ratio of 1.05 and a quick ratio of 0.72. The stock has a market capitalization of $52.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -7.11, a PEG ratio of 1.38 and a beta of 0.98. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $93.70 and its 200-day simple moving average is $99.12. 3M has a 12 month low of $85.35 and a 12 month high of $133.48.

3M (NYSE:MMM) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 24th. The conglomerate reported $2.68 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.34 by $0.34. 3M had a negative net margin of 22.59% and a positive return on equity of 47.18%. The company had revenue of $8.31 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.99 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $2.69 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 3.6% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts expect that 3M will post 9.12 EPS for the current year.

3M Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 12th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 17th will be issued a $1.50 dividend. This represents a $6.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.32%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 16th. 3M’s payout ratio is currently -44.94%.

3M Profile

3M Company provides diversified technology services in the United States and internationally. The company operates through four segments: Safety and Industrial; Transportation and Electronics; Health Care; and Consumer. The 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.