Ashton Thomas Securities LLC Acquires Shares of 445 3M (NYSE:MMM)

Ashton Thomas Securities LLC bought a new stake in 3M (NYSE:MMM) during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund bought 445 shares of the conglomerate’s stock, valued at approximately $61,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. CVA Family Office LLC grew its stake in 3M by 1.9% during the third quarter. CVA Family Office LLC now owns 4,174 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $571,000 after buying an additional 79 shares during the last quarter. Fortis Capital Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of 3M by 2.9% in the 2nd quarter. Fortis Capital Advisors LLC now owns 3,001 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $307,000 after acquiring an additional 84 shares in the last quarter. KMG Fiduciary Partners LLC grew its position in 3M by 0.5% during the 3rd quarter. KMG Fiduciary Partners LLC now owns 16,186 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $2,213,000 after acquiring an additional 84 shares during the last quarter. TCV Trust & Wealth Management Inc. increased its holdings in 3M by 1.3% during the 3rd quarter. TCV Trust & Wealth Management Inc. now owns 6,464 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $884,000 after purchasing an additional 84 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Weatherly Asset Management L. P. raised its position in 3M by 3.3% in the 3rd quarter. Weatherly Asset Management L. P. now owns 2,730 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $373,000 after purchasing an additional 86 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 65.25% of the company’s stock.

3M Stock Up 0.8 %

Shares of NYSE MMM opened at $131.45 on Thursday. 3M has a 52-week low of $75.40 and a 52-week high of $141.34. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.41, a quick ratio of 1.08 and a current ratio of 1.43. The stock has a market cap of $71.58 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.60, a P/E/G ratio of 2.16 and a beta of 0.95. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $132.78 and a 200 day moving average price of $117.40.

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 company had revenue of $6.29 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.06 billion. 3M had a net margin of 15.37% and a return on equity of 104.66%. The firm’s revenue was down 24.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.68 earnings per share. Analysts expect that 3M will post 7.27 EPS for the current year.

3M Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 12th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.70 per share. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.13%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 15th. 3M’s dividend payout ratio is 35.35%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have recently commented on the company. UBS Group upgraded 3M from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $130.00 to $184.00 in a report on Wednesday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of 3M from $160.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, October 28th. Citigroup boosted their target price on shares of 3M from $100.00 to $133.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, July 29th. Argus raised shares of 3M from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $145.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, July 30th. Finally, Melius Research upgraded shares of 3M from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $180.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, 3M presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $144.87.

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.