Eagle Asset Management Inc. Takes Position in 3M (NYSE:MMM)

Eagle Asset Management Inc. bought a new stake in 3M (NYSE:MMM) during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor bought 46,087 shares of the conglomerate’s stock, valued at approximately $6,191,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. LPL Financial LLC raised its stake in 3M by 1.3% during the third quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 737,531 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $100,820,000 after acquiring an additional 9,158 shares during the period. Tradewinds LLC. raised its stake in 3M by 11.1% during the third quarter. Tradewinds LLC. now owns 2,622 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $358,000 after acquiring an additional 263 shares during the period. German American Bancorp Inc. raised its stake in 3M by 11.0% during the third quarter. German American Bancorp Inc. now owns 3,029 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $414,000 after acquiring an additional 300 shares during the period. Cypress Capital Group raised its stake in 3M by 3.8% during the third quarter. Cypress Capital Group now owns 53,560 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $7,322,000 after acquiring an additional 1,979 shares during the period. Finally, Intech Investment Management LLC raised its stake in 3M by 93.9% during the third quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 67,385 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $9,212,000 after acquiring an additional 32,627 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 65.25% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have commented on the stock. Argus upgraded shares of 3M from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $145.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, July 30th. Melius Research upgraded shares of 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. Melius upgraded shares of 3M from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of 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 raised their price target 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. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, 3M currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $144.87.

3M Trading Up 0.9 %

Shares of NYSE MMM opened at $128.42 on Monday. 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 company has a market cap of $69.93 billion, a PE ratio of 16.21, a P/E/G ratio of 2.11 and a beta of 0.95. The company has a 50-day moving average of $132.56 and a two-hundred day moving average of $119.28. 3M has a 1-year low of $75.40 and a 1-year high of $141.34.

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

3M Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 12th. Investors of record on Friday, November 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.70 per share. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.18%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 15th. 3M’s dividend payout ratio is currently 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.