3M (NYSE:MMM) Short Interest Up 24.7% in March

3M (NYSE:MMM) saw a large increase in short interest in March. As of March 15th, there was short interest totalling 10,650,000 shares, an increase of 24.7% from the February 28th total of 8,540,000 shares. Currently, 2.0% of the shares of the stock are sold short. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 4,030,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 2.6 days.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other 3M news, Chairman Michael F. Roman sold 49,598 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $152.30, for a total transaction of $7,553,775.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman now owns 180,895 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $27,550,308.50. This trade represents a 21.52 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Christian T. Goralski, Jr. sold 6,318 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $149.43, for a total transaction of $944,098.74. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 5,024 shares in the company, valued at approximately $750,736.32. The trade was a 55.70 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 113,639 shares of company stock worth $17,163,446. Corporate insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On 3M

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of 3M during the fourth quarter worth $636,767,000. Invesco Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of 3M by 51.6% during the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 4,468,549 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $576,845,000 after buying an additional 1,520,619 shares during the last quarter. D1 Capital Partners L.P. bought a new stake in shares of 3M during the fourth quarter worth about $175,110,000. Capital World Investors raised its position in 3M by 25.4% in the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 6,153,924 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $794,410,000 after buying an additional 1,248,093 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Amundi raised its holdings in shares of 3M by 55.7% in the fourth quarter. Amundi now owns 2,511,095 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $337,815,000 after purchasing an additional 898,244 shares during the last quarter. 65.25% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MMM has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “underperform” rating and issued a $96.00 target price on shares of 3M in a report on Thursday, February 27th. Wells Fargo & Company raised 3M from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $140.00 to $170.00 in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of 3M in a research report on Saturday, March 22nd. Barclays lifted their target price on shares of 3M from $161.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. Finally, Citigroup increased their price target on shares of 3M from $142.00 to $152.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $149.13.

3M Trading Up 0.1 %

MMM stock traded up $0.18 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $147.85. 4,406,625 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,079,537. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $149.71 and its 200-day moving average price is $138.56. 3M has a one year low of $89.54 and a one year high of $156.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.86, a quick ratio of 1.08 and a current ratio of 1.41. The company has a market cap of $79.74 billion, a PE ratio of 19.58, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.30 and a beta of 0.97.

3M (NYSE:MMM) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 21st. The conglomerate reported $1.68 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.66 by $0.02. 3M had a net margin of 15.71% and a return on equity of 100.77%. The firm had revenue of $6.01 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.77 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.42 EPS. The company’s revenue was down 25.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts predict that 3M will post 7.8 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

3M Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 12th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 14th were paid a dividend of $0.73 per share. This represents a $2.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.97%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 14th. This is a boost from 3M’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.70. 3M’s payout ratio is presently 38.68%.

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.