Commonwealth Equity Services LLC Purchases 8,876 Shares of 3M (NYSE:MMM)

Commonwealth Equity Services LLC raised its position in 3M (NYSE:MMM) by 2.0% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 451,182 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after acquiring an additional 8,876 shares during the period. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC owned approximately 0.08% of 3M worth $49,323,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of MMM. CGC Financial Services LLC lifted its position in 3M by 89.9% in the 4th quarter. CGC Financial Services LLC now owns 338 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $37,000 after acquiring an additional 160 shares in the last quarter. Briaud Financial Planning Inc bought a new position in shares of 3M in the third quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Authentikos Wealth Advisory LLC purchased a new position in shares of 3M during the third quarter valued at approximately $37,000. VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC grew its holdings in 3M by 91.9% during the third quarter. VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC now owns 449 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $42,000 after buying an additional 215 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Psagot Value Holdings Ltd. Israel purchased a new stake in 3M in the 3rd quarter valued at $44,000. 65.25% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have issued reports on MMM. Bank of America cut their price objective on shares of 3M from $110.00 to $100.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 2nd. UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of 3M from $98.00 to $100.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on shares of 3M from $112.00 to $105.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 24th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on 3M from $78.00 to $87.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Mizuho reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $105.00 price target on shares of 3M in a report on Wednesday, March 27th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating, two have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $103.70.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Rodriguez Beatriz Karin Chavez sold 426 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $92.32, for a total value of $39,328.32. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 3,966 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $366,141.12. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 0.34% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

3M Stock Performance

NYSE:MMM traded up $0.34 on Friday, reaching $97.15. 4,818,713 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,770,578. The firm has a market cap of $53.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -7.64, a P/E/G ratio of 1.78 and a beta of 1.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.17, a current ratio of 1.64 and a quick ratio of 0.76. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $96.05 and a 200-day simple moving average of $97.54. 3M has a 52 week low of $71.12 and a 52 week high of $99.70.

3M (NYSE:MMM) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 30th. The conglomerate reported $2.39 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.10 by $0.29. The business had revenue of $8 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.64 billion. 3M had a negative net margin of 21.57% and a positive return on equity of 95.80%. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.97 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that 3M will post 7.26 earnings per share for the current year.

3M Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 12th. Investors of record on Friday, February 16th were issued a dividend of $1.51 per share. This is a boost from 3M’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.50. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 15th. This represents a $6.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.22%. 3M’s dividend payout ratio is -47.48%.

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.