WP Advisors LLC Decreases Stake in 3M (NYSE:MMM)

WP Advisors LLC lessened its stake in 3M (NYSE:MMM) by 44.0% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 1,598 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after selling 1,258 shares during the quarter. WP Advisors LLC’s holdings in 3M were worth $219,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Ballentine Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of 3M by 40.1% in the 3rd quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC now owns 18,217 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $2,490,000 after buying an additional 5,210 shares during the period. Stonegate Investment Group LLC boosted its stake in shares of 3M by 5.6% in the 3rd quarter. Stonegate Investment Group LLC now owns 252,847 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $34,564,000 after buying an additional 13,473 shares during the period. Ausdal Financial Partners Inc. boosted its stake in shares of 3M by 6.7% in the 2nd quarter. Ausdal Financial Partners Inc. now owns 3,991 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $408,000 after buying an additional 249 shares during the period. Candriam S.C.A. boosted its stake in shares of 3M by 19.2% in the 2nd quarter. Candriam S.C.A. now owns 38,469 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $3,931,000 after buying an additional 6,185 shares during the period. Finally, True Vision MN LLC purchased a new stake in 3M during the second quarter worth approximately $512,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 65.25% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently weighed in on MMM. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on 3M from $130.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, October 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on 3M from $160.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, October 28th. UBS Group upgraded 3M from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $130.00 to $184.00 in a research note on Wednesday, November 13th. Barclays boosted their target price on 3M from $160.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, Melius Research upgraded 3M from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $180.00 target price for the company in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $144.87.

3M Trading Down 1.9 %

NYSE:MMM opened at $129.79 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $70.68 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.39, a PEG ratio of 2.15 and a beta of 0.95. The company has a current ratio of 1.43, a quick ratio of 1.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.41. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $132.80 and its 200-day simple moving average is $118.15. 3M has a 12-month low of $75.40 and a 12-month high of $141.34.

3M (NYSE:MMM) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 22nd. The conglomerate reported $1.98 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.93 by $0.05. 3M had a return on equity of 104.66% and a net margin of 15.37%. The firm had revenue of $6.29 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.06 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $2.68 earnings per share. 3M’s quarterly revenue was down 24.3% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts anticipate that 3M will post 7.27 EPS for the current year.

3M Announces Dividend

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 issued a dividend of $0.70 per share. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.16%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 15th. 3M’s dividend payout ratio is presently 35.35%.

3M 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.