Bailard Inc. Has $682,000 Holdings in 3M (NYSE:MMM)

Bailard Inc. lessened its holdings in shares of 3M (NYSE:MMM) by 4.4% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 6,242 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after selling 287 shares during the quarter. Bailard Inc.’s holdings in 3M were worth $682,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Briaud Financial Planning Inc acquired a new position in shares of 3M in the third quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Authentikos Wealth Advisory LLC acquired a new position in shares of 3M in the third quarter valued at approximately $37,000. CGC Financial Services LLC grew its position in shares of 3M by 89.9% in the fourth quarter. CGC Financial Services LLC now owns 338 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $37,000 after purchasing an additional 160 shares during the last quarter. VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC grew its position in shares of 3M by 91.9% in the third quarter. VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC now owns 449 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $42,000 after purchasing an additional 215 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Psagot Value Holdings Ltd. Israel acquired a new position in shares of 3M in the third quarter valued at approximately $44,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 65.25% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently commented on MMM. Mizuho reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $105.00 target price on shares of 3M in a research report on Wednesday, March 27th. Citigroup upped their target price on 3M from $95.31 to $98.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, April 8th. StockNews.com upgraded 3M from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday. Barclays cut their price target on 3M from $126.00 to $107.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 2nd. Finally, Bank of America cut their price target on 3M from $110.00 to $100.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 2nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating, one has given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, 3M currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $104.00.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Rodriguez Beatriz Karin Chavez sold 426 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $92.32, for a total value 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 can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.34% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

3M Stock Up 0.4 %

NYSE MMM opened at $91.80 on Friday. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $95.71 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $97.37. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.69, a current ratio of 1.07 and a quick ratio of 0.76. 3M has a fifty-two week low of $71.12 and a fifty-two week high of $95.67. The stock has a market capitalization of $50.80 billion, a PE ratio of -7.27, a PEG ratio of 1.73 and a beta of 1.02.

3M (NYSE:MMM) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, January 23rd. The conglomerate reported $2.42 earnings per share 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 firm had revenue of $8.01 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.69 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $2.28 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 1.1% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts expect that 3M will post 8.19 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

3M Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 12th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 16th were paid a $1.51 dividend. This represents a $6.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.58%. This is a boost from 3M’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.50. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 15th. 3M’s dividend payout ratio is presently -47.82%.

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.