Tradition Wealth Management LLC Lowers Holdings in 3M (NYSE:MMM)

Tradition Wealth Management LLC trimmed its holdings in 3M (NYSE:MMM) by 0.9% during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 44,846 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after selling 402 shares during the period. Tradition Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in 3M were worth $6,130,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. Edgestream Partners L.P. lifted its position in shares of 3M by 39.3% in the third quarter. Edgestream Partners L.P. now owns 41,789 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $5,713,000 after acquiring an additional 11,792 shares in the last quarter. NCM Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of 3M by 117.3% in the third quarter. NCM Capital Management LLC now owns 12,710 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $1,737,000 after acquiring an additional 6,860 shares in the last quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec purchased a new stake in shares of 3M in the third quarter worth about $19,789,000. Appian Way Asset Management LP purchased a new stake in shares of 3M in the third quarter worth about $5,586,000. Finally, CWS Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of 3M in the third quarter worth about $243,000. 65.25% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently commented on MMM. Melius Research upgraded 3M from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $180.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Mizuho boosted their target price on 3M from $105.00 to $146.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. UBS Group upgraded 3M from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $130.00 to $184.00 in a research report on Wednesday, November 13th. Melius upgraded 3M from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on 3M from $99.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, 3M currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $144.87.

3M Trading Up 0.8 %

MMM opened at $133.53 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $72.72 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.86, a P/E/G ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 0.95. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $132.39 and its 200-day moving average price is $120.30. 3M has a one year low of $75.40 and a one year 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.

3M (NYSE:MMM) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The conglomerate reported $1.98 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.93 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $6.29 billion for 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%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 24.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.68 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast that 3M will post 7.27 EPS for the current year.

3M Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 12th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.70 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 15th. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.10%. 3M’s dividend payout ratio 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.