Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. Grows Position in 3M (NYSE:MMM)

Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. raised its position in 3M (NYSE:MMM) by 1.6% in the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 18,538 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after acquiring an additional 300 shares during the quarter. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd.’s holdings in 3M were worth $1,894,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV lifted its position in shares of 3M by 29.9% during the 2nd quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV now owns 69,283 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $7,080,000 after purchasing an additional 15,939 shares during the last quarter. True Vision MN LLC purchased a new stake in 3M during the 2nd quarter worth about $512,000. Wealth Alliance boosted its position in shares of 3M by 18.2% during the 2nd quarter. Wealth Alliance now owns 2,600 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $266,000 after acquiring an additional 401 shares in the last quarter. Axxcess Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of 3M by 40.2% in the 2nd quarter. Axxcess Wealth Management LLC now owns 8,866 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $906,000 after acquiring an additional 2,542 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Abbot Financial Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of 3M during the 2nd quarter worth about $491,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 65.25% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have commented on MMM. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of 3M from $100.00 to $110.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 10th. Citigroup lifted their price target on shares of 3M from $100.00 to $133.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, July 29th. StockNews.com cut shares of 3M from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, July 29th. Wolfe Research raised 3M from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $125.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Thursday, June 13th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised 3M from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $110.00 to $150.00 in a report on Monday, July 29th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $124.43.

3M Stock Performance

Shares of MMM opened at $133.84 on Friday. 3M has a 1 year low of $71.12 and a 1 year high of $135.32. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.95, a quick ratio of 1.08 and a current ratio of 1.36. The company’s fifty day moving average is $124.02 and its two-hundred day moving average is $107.50. The stock has a market capitalization of $74.06 billion, a P/E ratio of -10.52, a P/E/G ratio of 2.41 and a beta of 0.95.

3M (NYSE:MMM) last issued its earnings results on Friday, July 26th. The conglomerate reported $1.93 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.68 by $0.25. The company had revenue of $6.26 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.85 billion. 3M had a net margin of 3.08% and a return on equity of 112.92%. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $2.17 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts predict that 3M will post 7.22 earnings per share for the current year.

3M Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 12th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 26th were issued a dividend of $0.70 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 26th. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.09%. 3M’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -22.01%.

Insider Activity

In other 3M news, Chairman Michael F. Roman sold 5,675 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $123.46, for a total value of $700,635.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman now directly owns 174,036 shares in the company, valued at approximately $21,486,484.56. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In related 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 transaction of $700,635.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman now owns 174,036 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $21,486,484.56. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CFO Theresa E. Reinseth sold 2,100 shares of the 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 transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 4,364 shares in the company, valued at approximately $541,659.68. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

About 3M

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.