Aptus Capital Advisors LLC Purchases 706 Shares of 3M (NYSE:MMM)

Aptus Capital Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of 3M (NYSE:MMM) by 13.7% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 5,866 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after buying an additional 706 shares during the period. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC’s holdings in 3M were worth $802,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. First Heartland Consultants Inc. bought a new position in 3M during the third quarter worth about $243,000. Hemenway Trust Co LLC acquired a new position in shares of 3M during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $220,000. Savvy Advisors Inc. bought a new position in shares of 3M during the third quarter worth approximately $341,000. Crystal Rock Capital Management acquired a new stake in shares of 3M in the third quarter valued at approximately $1,388,000. Finally, GSA Capital Partners LLP boosted its stake in shares of 3M by 550.4% in the third quarter. GSA Capital Partners LLP now owns 22,691 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $3,102,000 after buying an additional 19,202 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 65.25% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MMM has been the subject of several analyst reports. UBS Group raised 3M from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $130.00 to $184.00 in a report on Wednesday. Melius Research raised shares of 3M from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $180.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Morgan Stanley initiated coverage on shares of 3M in a report on Friday, September 6th. They issued an “underweight” rating and a $125.00 target price on the stock. Bank of America upped their price target on shares of 3M from $143.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of 3M from $160.00 to $165.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Two research 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. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $144.87.

3M Stock Performance

NYSE:MMM opened at $132.32 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $132.76 and its 200-day moving average is $117.50. 3M has a 1-year low of $75.40 and a 1-year high of $141.34. 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 stock has a market cap of $72.06 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.60, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.16 and a beta of 0.95.

3M (NYSE:MMM) last posted its 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 firm had revenue of $6.29 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.06 billion. 3M had a net margin of 15.37% and a return on equity of 104.66%. The company’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 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that 3M will post 7.27 earnings per share for the current year.

3M Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 12th. Investors of record on Friday, November 15th will be given a dividend of $0.70 per share. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.12%. 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.