Simplify Asset Management Inc. Buys 4,583 Shares of 3M (NYSE:MMM)

Simplify Asset Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of 3M (NYSE:MMM) by 13.2% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 39,434 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after buying an additional 4,583 shares during the quarter. Simplify Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in 3M were worth $5,391,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of MMM. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of 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. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its position in shares of 3M by 11.8% in the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 5,065,242 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $517,617,000 after buying an additional 533,520 shares during the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. raised its stake in shares of 3M by 2.0% during the 2nd quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 4,952,878 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $506,135,000 after acquiring an additional 97,340 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its position in 3M by 18.6% during the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 2,531,422 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $258,686,000 after acquiring an additional 396,773 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its stake in 3M by 0.6% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,940,202 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $198,298,000 after acquiring an additional 11,315 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 65.25% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently weighed in on MMM. Citigroup boosted their target price on 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 report on Monday, July 29th. Argus raised 3M from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $145.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, July 30th. Bank of America lifted their target price on shares of 3M from $143.00 to $160.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, Morgan Stanley began coverage on shares of 3M in a research report on Friday, September 6th. They set an “underweight” rating and a $125.00 price target on the stock. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $144.87.

3M Price Performance

Shares of NYSE MMM traded down $1.09 during trading on Friday, hitting $130.53. 515,380 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,837,320. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.41, a current ratio of 1.43 and a quick ratio of 1.08. 3M has a 1 year low of $75.40 and a 1 year high of $141.34. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $132.78 and its 200 day moving average price is $117.60. The company has a market cap of $71.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.54, a PEG ratio of 2.17 and a beta of 0.95.

3M (NYSE:MMM) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The conglomerate reported $1.98 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.93 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $6.29 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.06 billion. 3M had a net margin of 15.37% and a return on equity of 104.66%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 24.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $2.68 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts expect that 3M will post 7.27 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

3M Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 12th. Investors of record on Friday, November 15th will be paid a $0.70 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 15th. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.15%. 3M’s payout ratio is 35.35%.

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.