Seven Eight Capital LP Buys New Stake in 3M (NYSE:MMM)

Seven Eight Capital LP acquired a new stake in 3M (NYSE:MMM) during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 18,304 shares of the conglomerate’s stock, valued at approximately $1,942,000.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Tributary Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of 3M in the first quarter worth $25,000. Financial Synergies Wealth Advisors Inc. raised its position in 3M by 419.1% in the 1st quarter. Financial Synergies Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 244 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 197 shares in the last quarter. Northwest Investment Counselors LLC purchased a new position in shares of 3M in the 1st quarter valued at about $32,000. Livelsberger Financial Advisory acquired a new position in shares of 3M during the fourth quarter worth about $35,000. Finally, Cape Investment Advisory Inc. increased its stake in shares of 3M by 42.8% during the fourth quarter. Cape Investment Advisory Inc. now owns 387 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $42,000 after buying an additional 116 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 65.25% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on MMM shares. Bank of America upgraded shares of 3M from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $105.00 to $120.00 in a research note on Friday, June 7th. HSBC raised 3M from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their target price for the company from $91.13 to $115.00 in a report on Friday, May 10th. Vertical Research raised 3M from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $92.00 to $140.00 in a report on Thursday, May 16th. Mizuho reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $105.00 price objective on shares of 3M in a report on Wednesday, March 27th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised 3M from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their price target for the company from $110.00 to $111.00 in a report on Wednesday, May 1st. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, 3M currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $112.17.

3M Stock Performance

MMM stock traded down $0.25 on Tuesday, hitting $104.72. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 2,172,319 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,240,596. 3M has a 1 year low of $71.12 and a 1 year high of $106.04. The company has a current ratio of 1.64, a quick ratio of 1.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.17. The stock has a market cap of $57.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -8.24, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.93 and a beta of 0.95. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $101.50 and a two-hundred day moving average of $98.67.

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

3M Cuts Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 12th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 24th were issued a $0.70 dividend. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.67%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, May 23rd. 3M’s payout ratio is -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.