Ballast Advisors LLC Grows Position in 3M (NYSE:MMM)

Ballast Advisors LLC grew its stake in 3M (NYSE:MMM) by 6.1% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 6,960 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after acquiring an additional 398 shares during the quarter. Ballast Advisors LLC’s holdings in 3M were worth $951,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Radnor Capital Management LLC raised its stake in 3M by 21.2% in the 3rd quarter. Radnor Capital Management LLC now owns 43,585 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $5,958,000 after purchasing an additional 7,625 shares during the last quarter. Catalina Capital Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of 3M during the third quarter worth about $250,000. Hixon Zuercher LLC acquired a new position in shares of 3M in the third quarter valued at approximately $246,000. QRG Capital Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of 3M by 1.4% during the third quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 14,319 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $1,957,000 after buying an additional 199 shares during the period. Finally, Asset Management One Co. Ltd. boosted its position in 3M by 2.9% during the third quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. now owns 351,828 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $48,095,000 after acquiring an additional 9,901 shares during the last quarter. 65.25% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have weighed in on the company. Argus upgraded 3M from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $145.00 price target for the company in a report on Tuesday, July 30th. Barclays upped their target price on 3M from $160.00 to $165.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Melius Research raised 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. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price objective on shares of 3M from $99.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of 3M from $130.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, October 7th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $139.27.

3M Stock Performance

Shares of MMM stock opened at $131.74 on Wednesday. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $132.78 and its 200-day simple moving average is $115.97. The company has a current ratio of 1.43, a quick ratio of 1.08 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 company has a market cap of $71.74 billion, a PE ratio of 15.98, a P/E/G ratio of 2.05 and a beta of 0.95.

3M (NYSE:MMM) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 22nd. The conglomerate reported $1.98 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 company had revenue of $6.29 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.06 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $2.68 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 24.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that 3M will post 7.28 EPS for the current year.

3M Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 12th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 15th will be given a $0.70 dividend. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.13%. 3M’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.