Commonwealth Equity Services LLC Sells 9,842 Shares of 3M Company $MMM

Commonwealth Equity Services LLC reduced its position in 3M Company (NYSE:MMM) by 3.6% in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 260,699 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after selling 9,842 shares during the quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC’s holdings in 3M were worth $42,794,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of MMM. Security National Bank of SO Dak acquired a new stake in 3M during the second quarter worth $32,000. DecisionPoint Financial LLC raised its stake in shares of 3M by 2,387.5% in the 3rd quarter. DecisionPoint Financial LLC now owns 199 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $32,000 after buying an additional 191 shares in the last quarter. Trellis Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of 3M in the 3rd quarter valued at $33,000. Latitude Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of 3M during the 3rd quarter worth about $34,000. Finally, Compass Financial Management LLC bought a new position in shares of 3M during the 2nd quarter worth about $38,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 65.25% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have recently weighed in on MMM shares. Mizuho lifted their target price on shares of 3M from $160.00 to $180.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 23rd. UBS Group set a $230.00 price target on shares of 3M in a research report on Wednesday. Wells Fargo & Company started coverage on shares of 3M in a research report on Thursday, September 24th. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $195.00 price target for the company. HSBC upgraded shares of 3M to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 22nd. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein lifted their price objective on 3M from $171.00 to $197.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 21st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have given a Buy rating, eight have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, 3M presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $190.07.

3M Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:MMM opened at $185.23 on Friday. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $168.96 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $161.79. 3M Company has a fifty-two week low of $139.34 and a fifty-two week high of $196.90. The stock has a market capitalization of $95.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.60, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.41 and a beta of 1.01. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.01, a current ratio of 1.41 and a quick ratio of 1.06.

3M (NYSE:MMM) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 20th. The conglomerate reported $2.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.38 by $0.12. The firm had revenue of $6.60 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.61 billion. 3M had a return on equity of 123.11% and a net margin of 14.01%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $2.19 earnings per share. As a group, analysts predict that 3M Company will post 9.14 EPS for the current fiscal year.

3M declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock repurchase plan on Wednesday, November 4th that permits the company to repurchase $6 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the conglomerate to purchase up to 6.6% of its stock through open market purchases. Share buyback plans are typically an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

3M Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 11th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 13th will be issued a $0.78 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 13th. This represents a $3.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.7%. 3M’s dividend payout ratio is presently 46.50%.

3M Profile

3M is a diversified science and manufacturing company that develops products for businesses and consumers. Its offerings include workplace safety equipment, adhesives and abrasives, filtration materials, automotive and electronics components, and home and office products such as Post-it Notes and Scotch brand tapes.

Founded in 1902 as the Minnesota Mining and Manufacturing Company, 3M began as a mining venture before expanding into materials science and industrial manufacturing. The company adopted the name 3M in 2002 and is headquartered in St.