3M (NYSE:MMM) Shares Sold by Avidian Wealth Enterprises LLC

Avidian Wealth Enterprises LLC reduced its stake in 3M (NYSE:MMM) by 9.9% during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 4,034 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after selling 445 shares during the period. Avidian Wealth Enterprises LLC’s holdings in 3M were worth $551,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MMM. Ballentine Partners LLC boosted its stake in 3M by 40.1% in the third quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC now owns 18,217 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $2,490,000 after acquiring an additional 5,210 shares in the last quarter. Stonegate Investment Group LLC increased its position in 3M by 5.6% during the third quarter. Stonegate Investment Group LLC now owns 252,847 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $34,564,000 after buying an additional 13,473 shares during the period. Ausdal Financial Partners Inc. grew its position in shares of 3M by 6.7% during the second quarter. Ausdal Financial Partners Inc. now owns 3,991 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $408,000 after acquiring an additional 249 shares during the last quarter. Candriam S.C.A. raised its holdings in shares of 3M by 19.2% in the second 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 last quarter. Finally, True Vision MN LLC acquired a new position in 3M in the 2nd quarter valued at about $512,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 65.25% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have weighed in on MMM. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on 3M from $130.00 to $140.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, October 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of 3M from $160.00 to $165.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, October 28th. Melius Research upgraded shares of 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. Morgan Stanley started coverage on shares of 3M in a report on Friday, September 6th. They issued an “underweight” rating and a $125.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Citigroup increased their price target on shares of 3M from $100.00 to $133.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, July 29th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $139.27.

3M Price Performance

MMM stock opened at $133.07 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $72.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.80, a PEG ratio of 2.03 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 firm has a 50 day moving average of $132.83 and a 200-day moving average of $116.09. 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 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.93 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $6.29 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.06 billion. 3M had a return on equity of 104.66% and a net margin of 15.37%. 3M’s revenue was down 24.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.68 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts expect that 3M will post 7.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

3M Dividend Announcement

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 paid 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 2.10%. 3M’s payout ratio is 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.