Commonwealth Financial Services LLC Grows Position in 3M (NYSE:MMM)

Commonwealth Financial Services LLC grew its stake in 3M (NYSE:MMM) by 12.2% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,453 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after buying an additional 267 shares during the period. Commonwealth Financial Services LLC’s holdings in 3M were worth $317,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in MMM. D.A. Davidson & CO. increased its holdings in shares of 3M by 16.2% in the third quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. now owns 146,333 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $20,004,000 after purchasing an additional 20,421 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its position in 3M by 26.8% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 845,401 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $114,770,000 after buying an additional 178,450 shares during the last quarter. Meyer Handelman Co. increased its holdings in 3M by 1.4% in the 4th quarter. Meyer Handelman Co. now owns 197,618 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $25,511,000 after buying an additional 2,678 shares during the period. Ballentine Partners LLC raised its position in 3M by 40.1% during the 3rd quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC now owns 18,217 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $2,490,000 after buying an additional 5,210 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Stonegate Investment Group LLC raised its position in 3M by 5.6% during the 3rd 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 last quarter. 65.25% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Melius Research upgraded shares of 3M from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $180.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. Bank of America increased their price target on 3M from $160.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Melius raised 3M from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Citigroup upped their target price on 3M from $142.00 to $152.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. Finally, UBS Group upgraded 3M from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $130.00 to $184.00 in a research report on Wednesday, November 13th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $148.87.

3M Price Performance

NYSE:MMM opened at $150.13 on Tuesday. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $135.21 and a two-hundred day moving average of $131.26. 3M has a 12 month low of $75.40 and a 12 month high of $155.00. The firm has a market cap of $81.76 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.89, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.37 and a beta of 0.96. The company has a current ratio of 1.41, a quick ratio of 1.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.86.

3M (NYSE:MMM) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 21st. The conglomerate reported $1.68 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.66 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $6.01 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.77 billion. 3M had a return on equity of 100.77% and a net margin of 15.71%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 25.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.42 earnings per share. On average, analysts expect that 3M will post 7.8 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other 3M news, insider Christian T. Goralski, Jr. sold 6,318 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $149.43, for a total value of $944,098.74. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 5,024 shares in the company, valued at $750,736.32. The trade was a 55.70 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Rodriguez Beatriz Karin Chavez sold 1,645 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $150.25, for a total transaction of $247,161.25. Following the sale, the insider now owns 5,153 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $774,238.25. This represents a 24.20 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 113,639 shares of company stock valued at $17,163,446. Insiders own 0.38% of the company’s stock.

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.