40,931 3M Company $MMM Shares Sold by Jefferies Financial Group Inc.

Jefferies Financial Group Inc. reduced its stake in 3M Company (NYSE:MMM) by 63.9% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 23,150 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after selling 40,931 shares during the period. Jefferies Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in 3M were worth $3,800,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. State Street Corp lifted its position in 3M by 0.4% during the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 27,828,966 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $4,505,788,000 after acquiring an additional 105,222 shares during the period. Amundi boosted its stake in 3M by 67.0% during the 2nd quarter. Amundi now owns 4,536,148 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $734,448,000 after purchasing an additional 1,819,178 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC boosted its position in shares of 3M by 7.4% during the second quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 3,935,534 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $637,202,000 after buying an additional 270,458 shares during the last quarter. National Pension Service grew its stake in shares of 3M by 3.6% in the second quarter. National Pension Service now owns 1,401,543 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $226,924,000 after acquiring an additional 48,167 shares during the period. Finally, Keybank National Association OH boosted its holdings in 3M by 2.6% in the third quarter. Keybank National Association OH now owns 378,545 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $62,138,000 after purchasing an additional 9,676 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 65.25% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MMM has been the topic of several recent research reports. Mizuho increased their price target on shares of 3M from $160.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company assumed coverage on 3M in a research report on Thursday, September 24th. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $195.00 target price for the company. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price target on shares of 3M from $200.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 5th. Deutsche Bank reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of 3M in a research report on Wednesday, October 21st. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein increased their target price on 3M from $171.00 to $197.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 21st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have given a Buy rating, nine have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, 3M has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $190.07.

3M Trading Down 1.3%

MMM opened at $186.40 on Friday. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $170.33 and its 200-day moving average price is $162.37. The stock has a market cap of $96.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.78, a P/E/G ratio of 2.46 and a beta of 1.01. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.01, a quick ratio of 1.06 and a current ratio of 1.41. 3M Company has a one year low of $139.34 and a one year high of $196.90.

3M (NYSE:MMM) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, October 20th. The conglomerate reported $2.50 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.38 by $0.12. The business had revenue of $6.60 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.61 billion. 3M had a return on equity of 123.11% and a net margin of 14.01%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.19 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast that 3M Company will post 9.14 EPS for the current year.

3M announced that its board has authorized a stock repurchase plan on Wednesday, November 4th that permits the company to repurchase $6 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the conglomerate to repurchase up to 6.6% of its shares through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are usually an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

3M Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 11th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 13th will be given a dividend of $0.78 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 13th. This represents a $3.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.7%. 3M’s payout ratio is 46.50%.

3M Profile

3M is a diversified science and manufacturing company that develops products for businesses and consumers. Its offerings include workplace safety equipment, adhesives and abrasives, filtration materials, automotive and electronics components, and home and office products such as Post-it Notes and Scotch brand tapes. Founded in 1902 as the Minnesota Mining and Manufacturing Company, 3M began as a mining venture before expanding into materials science and industrial manufacturing. The company adopted the name 3M in 2002 and is headquartered in St. Paul, Minnesota.