Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC Lowers Position in 3M (NYSE:MMM)

Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC reduced its stake in 3M (NYSE:MMM) by 22.4% during the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 14,806 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after selling 4,271 shares during the quarter. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC’s holdings in 3M were worth $2,024,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in 3M by 0.8% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 49,461,361 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $5,246,367,000 after acquiring an additional 377,703 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its position in shares of 3M by 11.8% during the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 5,065,242 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $517,617,000 after purchasing an additional 533,520 shares during the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in shares of 3M by 2.0% during the 2nd quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 4,952,878 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $506,135,000 after buying an additional 97,340 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its position in 3M by 18.6% in the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 2,531,422 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $258,686,000 after buying an additional 396,773 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its position in 3M by 0.6% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,940,202 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $198,298,000 after acquiring an additional 11,315 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 65.25% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Mizuho upped their price objective on shares of 3M from $105.00 to $146.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Melius upgraded shares of 3M from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on 3M from $160.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, October 28th. Melius Research upgraded 3M from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $180.00 target price for the company in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised 3M from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $110.00 to $150.00 in a research note on Monday, July 29th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $139.27.

3M Trading Down 2.0 %

NYSE:MMM opened at $130.32 on Wednesday. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $132.79 and a 200-day moving average price of $117.13. The stock has a market cap of $70.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.45, a P/E/G ratio of 2.20 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. 3M has a 12 month low of $75.40 and a 12 month high of $141.34.

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

3M Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 12th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 15th will be issued a $0.70 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 15th. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.15%. 3M’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 35.35%.

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.