Gamco Investors INC. ET AL Buys 941 Shares of 3M (NYSE:MMM)

Gamco Investors INC. ET AL raised its stake in shares of 3M (NYSE:MMM) by 11.2% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 9,341 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after purchasing an additional 941 shares during the period. Gamco Investors INC. ET AL’s holdings in 3M were worth $991,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in 3M by 0.8% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 49,461,361 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $5,246,367,000 after purchasing an additional 377,703 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its position in 3M by 0.4% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 12,080,578 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $1,320,649,000 after purchasing an additional 43,732 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in 3M during the 4th quarter worth $502,585,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its position in 3M by 10.6% during the 1st quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 4,531,722 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $480,680,000 after purchasing an additional 435,439 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Balyasny Asset Management L.P. raised its position in shares of 3M by 313.8% in the 4th quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 2,650,961 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $289,803,000 after acquiring an additional 2,010,319 shares in the last quarter. 65.25% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

3M Stock Up 23.0 %

3M stock traded up $23.77 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $127.16. The stock had a trading volume of 32,748,920 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,111,316. 3M has a 12 month low of $71.12 and a 12 month high of $128.02. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $102.05 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $98.76. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.17, a quick ratio of 1.27 and a current ratio of 1.64.

3M (NYSE:MMM) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, July 26th. The conglomerate reported $1.93 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.66 by $0.27. 3M had a positive return on equity of 95.80% and a negative net margin of 21.57%. The business had revenue of $6.26 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.85 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $2.17 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that 3M will post 7.19 EPS for the current year.

3M Cuts Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 12th. Investors of record on Friday, May 24th were paid a $0.70 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, May 23rd. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.20%. 3M’s payout ratio is -22.01%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently weighed in on MMM. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on 3M from $100.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 10th. Bank of America raised 3M from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $105.00 to $120.00 in a research report on Friday, June 7th. StockNews.com began coverage on 3M in a research report on Thursday, June 6th. They issued a “buy” rating for the company. Barclays lifted their price objective on 3M from $118.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 10th. Finally, Wolfe Research raised 3M from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $125.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Thursday, June 13th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, 3M presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $112.17.

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.