Hilltop Holdings Inc. Decreases Holdings in 3M (NYSE:MMM)

Hilltop Holdings Inc. reduced its stake in shares of 3M (NYSE:MMM - Free Report) by 35.7% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 12,028 shares of the conglomerate's stock after selling 6,680 shares during the quarter. Hilltop Holdings Inc.'s holdings in 3M were worth $1,644,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the business. D.A. Davidson & CO. increased its position in shares of 3M by 16.2% during the third quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. now owns 146,333 shares of the conglomerate's stock worth $20,004,000 after purchasing an additional 20,421 shares in the last quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC lifted its stake in 3M by 40.1% in the 3rd quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC now owns 18,217 shares of the conglomerate's stock valued at $2,490,000 after buying an additional 5,210 shares in the last quarter. Stonegate Investment Group LLC lifted its stake in 3M by 5.6% in the 3rd quarter. Stonegate Investment Group LLC now owns 252,847 shares of the conglomerate's stock worth $34,564,000 after purchasing an additional 13,473 shares in the last quarter. Ausdal Financial Partners Inc. lifted its stake in 3M by 6.7% in the 2nd quarter. Ausdal Financial Partners Inc. now owns 3,991 shares of the conglomerate's stock worth $408,000 after purchasing an additional 249 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Candriam S.C.A. increased its holdings in shares of 3M by 19.2% during the 2nd quarter. Candriam S.C.A. now owns 38,469 shares of the conglomerate's stock worth $3,931,000 after buying an additional 6,185 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 65.25% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Mizuho lifted their target price on shares of 3M from $105.00 to $146.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target on shares of 3M from $99.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an "underperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. UBS Group upgraded shares of 3M from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $130.00 to $184.00 in a research note on Wednesday, November 13th. Melius Research upgraded shares of 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. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of 3M from $130.00 to $140.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Monday, October 7th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, 3M presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $144.87.

3M Trading Down 0.5 %

MMM traded down $0.70 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $130.45. The company's stock had a trading volume of 2,296,527 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,734,820. 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 twelve month low of $75.40 and a twelve month high of $141.34. The stock's fifty day moving average price is $132.09 and its 200-day moving average price is $120.88. The firm has a market capitalization of $71.04 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.47, a PEG ratio of 2.20 and a beta of 0.95.

3M (NYSE:MMM - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 22nd. The conglomerate reported $1.98 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.93 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $6.29 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.06 billion. 3M had a return on equity of 104.66% and a net margin of 15.37%. The business's revenue for the quarter was down 24.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $2.68 EPS. Analysts anticipate that 3M will post 7.27 EPS for the current year.

3M Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 12th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 15th will be paid a $0.70 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 15th. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.15%. 3M's dividend payout ratio is currently 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.