Steele Capital Management Inc. Purchases 413 Shares of 3M (NYSE:MMM)

Steele Capital Management Inc. boosted its position in 3M (NYSE:MMM) by 13.8% during the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 3,411 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after buying an additional 413 shares during the quarter. Steele Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in 3M were worth $362,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in MMM. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in 3M by 0.7% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 49,033,679 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $4,590,533,000 after buying an additional 317,483 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its position in shares of 3M by 0.4% during the fourth 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 period. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of 3M during the fourth quarter worth about $502,585,000. Pacer Advisors Inc. raised its position in shares of 3M by 1,273.9% during the fourth quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 3,783,726 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $413,637,000 after purchasing an additional 3,508,334 shares during the period. Finally, Balyasny Asset Management L.P. raised its position in shares of 3M by 313.8% during the fourth quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 2,650,961 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $289,803,000 after purchasing an additional 2,010,319 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 65.25% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on the company. HSBC raised 3M from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $91.13 to $115.00 in a research report on Friday, May 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised 3M from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $110.00 to $111.00 in a research report on Wednesday, May 1st. UBS Group lifted their target price on 3M from $98.00 to $100.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 1st. Barclays lifted their target price on 3M from $112.00 to $118.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 28th. Finally, Vertical Research raised 3M from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $92.00 to $140.00 in a research report on Thursday, May 16th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $111.58.

3M Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE MMM traded down $1.58 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $100.61. 2,703,643 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 5,505,685. The company has a quick ratio of 1.27, a current ratio of 1.64 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.17. 3M has a 12 month low of $71.12 and a 12 month high of $106.04. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $99.23 and its 200 day moving average price is $99.22. The firm has a market capitalization of $55.67 billion, a PE ratio of -7.92, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 0.95.

3M (NYSE:MMM) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 30th. The conglomerate reported $2.39 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.10 by $0.29. The business had revenue of $8 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.64 billion. 3M had a positive return on equity of 95.80% and a negative net margin of 21.57%. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.97 EPS. As a group, analysts predict that 3M will post 7.17 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

3M Cuts Dividend

The company also recently declared 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 of this dividend was Thursday, May 23rd. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.78%. 3M’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -22.01%.

3M Company 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.