Centaurus Financial Inc. Sells 260 Shares of 3M (NYSE:MMM)

Centaurus Financial Inc. trimmed its holdings in shares of 3M (NYSE:MMM) by 8.3% during the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 2,868 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after selling 260 shares during the quarter. Centaurus Financial Inc.’s holdings in 3M were worth $392,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Ballentine Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of 3M by 40.1% during the third quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC now owns 18,217 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $2,490,000 after purchasing an additional 5,210 shares during the period. Stonegate Investment Group LLC grew 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 in the last quarter. Ausdal Financial Partners Inc. increased its stake in 3M by 6.7% during the 2nd 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 period. Candriam S.C.A. raised its holdings in 3M by 19.2% in the 2nd quarter. Candriam S.C.A. now owns 38,469 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $3,931,000 after acquiring an additional 6,185 shares in the last quarter. Finally, True Vision MN LLC bought a new stake in shares of 3M during the 2nd quarter valued at $512,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 65.25% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently commented on MMM shares. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on 3M from $130.00 to $140.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, October 7th. Argus upgraded shares of 3M from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $145.00 target price for the company in a research report on Tuesday, July 30th. Melius upgraded shares of 3M from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Mizuho boosted their price objective on shares of 3M from $105.00 to $146.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Finally, Melius Research raised 3M from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $180.00 target price on the stock in a 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 issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, 3M has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $144.87.

3M Stock Performance

Shares of MMM stock opened at $132.95 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $72.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.79, a PEG ratio of 2.12 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 business’s 50-day moving average price is $132.46 and its 200-day moving average price is $119.75. 3M has a 12 month low of $75.40 and a 12 month high of $141.34.

3M (NYSE:MMM) last posted its earnings results 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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.06 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.68 EPS. The firm’s revenue was down 24.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts forecast that 3M will post 7.27 EPS for the current 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.11%. 3M’s dividend 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.