CWS Financial Advisors LLC Invests $243,000 in 3M (NYSE:MMM)

CWS Financial Advisors LLC bought a new stake in 3M (NYSE:MMM) in the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm bought 1,777 shares of the conglomerate’s stock, valued at approximately $243,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of MMM. Virtu Financial LLC purchased a new position in 3M in the first quarter valued at $485,000. Atria Investments Inc boosted its holdings in 3M by 50.8% in the first quarter. Atria Investments Inc now owns 34,961 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $3,710,000 after purchasing an additional 11,779 shares during the period. Cetera Investment Advisers boosted its holdings in 3M by 160.2% in the first quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 166,132 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $17,622,000 after purchasing an additional 102,284 shares during the period. Cetera Advisors LLC raised its stake in 3M by 202.8% in the first quarter. Cetera Advisors LLC now owns 46,615 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $4,944,000 after buying an additional 31,221 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in 3M by 64.5% in the first quarter. Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,476 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $157,000 after buying an additional 579 shares in the last quarter. 65.25% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have weighed in on MMM. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on 3M from $160.00 to $165.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, October 28th. UBS Group upgraded 3M from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price target for the company from $130.00 to $184.00 in a research note on Wednesday, November 13th. Melius Research upgraded 3M from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $180.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company raised 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. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lifted their target price on 3M from $99.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a research report 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, 3M has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $144.87.

3M Stock Performance

NYSE MMM opened at $132.48 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.08, a current ratio of 1.43 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.41. 3M has a 52-week low of $75.40 and a 52-week high of $141.34. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $132.42 and its 200 day moving average price is $119.92. The firm has a market cap of $72.14 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.73, a P/E/G ratio of 2.19 and a beta of 0.95.

3M (NYSE:MMM) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The conglomerate reported $1.98 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.93 by $0.05. 3M had a return on equity of 104.66% and a net margin of 15.37%. The firm had revenue of $6.29 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.06 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $2.68 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was down 24.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts expect that 3M will post 7.27 earnings per share for the current year.

3M Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 12th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 15th will be issued a $0.70 dividend. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.11%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 15th. 3M’s dividend payout ratio is presently 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.