Westpac Banking Corp raised its stake in 3M (NYSE:MMM – Get Rating) by 17.6% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 142,066 shares of the conglomerate's stock after acquiring an additional 21,303 shares during the quarter. Westpac Banking Corp's holdings in 3M were worth $17,037,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of MMM. MADDEN SECURITIES Corp purchased a new position in 3M in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. McElhenny Sheffield Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of 3M in the fourth quarter valued at $69,000. Piershale Financial Group Inc. purchased a new position in shares of 3M during the 4th quarter valued at $29,000. Heritage Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in shares of 3M by 33.0% during the 3rd quarter. Heritage Wealth Management LLC now owns 423 shares of the conglomerate's stock worth $47,000 after acquiring an additional 105 shares during the period. Finally, Alaska Permanent Fund Corp increased its holdings in 3M by 9,440.0% in the 3rd quarter. Alaska Permanent Fund Corp now owns 477 shares of the conglomerate's stock worth $53,000 after acquiring an additional 472 shares during the last quarter. 65.61% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have commented on the stock. UBS Group dropped their price objective on shares of 3M from $124.00 to $115.00 in a report on Wednesday, January 25th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price target on shares of 3M from $89.00 to $95.00 in a research note on Wednesday. Mizuho reduced their price objective on shares of 3M from $130.00 to $120.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 26th. StockNews.com initiated coverage on shares of 3M in a report on Thursday, March 16th. They set a "hold" rating on the stock. Finally, Morgan Stanley cut their price target on 3M from $110.00 to $103.00 and set an "underweight" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 19th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and ten have assigned a hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $122.69.

3M Stock Down 1.4 %

Shares of NYSE MMM opened at $102.92 on Thursday. 3M has a one year low of $100.16 and a one year high of $154.66. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.84, a current ratio of 1.42 and a quick ratio of 0.98. The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $105.47 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $116.09. The stock has a market capitalization of $56.76 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.14, a PEG ratio of 1.26 and a beta of 0.95.

3M (NYSE:MMM – Get Rating) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, April 25th. The conglomerate reported $1.97 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.60 by $0.37. 3M had a net margin of 16.31% and a return on equity of 36.48%. The firm had revenue of $8.03 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $7.51 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $2.65 earnings per share. The business's revenue was down 9.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts expect that 3M will post 8.71 EPS for the current fiscal year.

3M Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Sunday, March 12th. Investors of record on Friday, February 17th were paid a $1.50 dividend. This is a positive change from 3M's previous quarterly dividend of $1.49. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 16th. This represents a $6.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.83%. 3M's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 59.11%.

3M Profile

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3M Co is a technology company, which manufactures industrial, safety, and consumer products. It operates through the following segments: Safety and Industrial, Transportation and Electronics, Health Care, Consumer, and Corporate and Unallocated. The Safety and Industrial segment consists of personal safety, industrial adhesives and tapes, abrasives, closure and masking systems, electrical markets, automotive aftermarket, and roofing granules.

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