Gateway Advisory LLC Invests $290,000 in 3M (NYSE:MMM)

Gateway Advisory LLC acquired a new stake in shares of 3M (NYSE:MMM) during the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 2,897 shares of the conglomerate’s stock, valued at approximately $290,000.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Financial Freedom LLC bought a new position in shares of 3M during the 4th quarter worth about $25,000. 25 LLC acquired a new position in 3M in the first quarter worth about $33,000. Retirement Group LLC lifted its stake in 3M by 267.0% during the first quarter. Retirement Group LLC now owns 367 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $39,000 after purchasing an additional 267 shares during the period. Trivant Custom Portfolio Group LLC acquired a new stake in 3M during the first quarter valued at approximately $48,000. Finally, Pacific Center for Financial Services bought a new stake in shares of 3M in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $52,000. 65.24% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MMM has been the subject of several analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on 3M from $115.00 to $93.00 in a research report on Monday, October 9th. Citigroup boosted their target price on shares of 3M from $95.00 to $97.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 25th. UBS Group increased their target price on shares of 3M from $95.00 to $115.00 in a research report on Tuesday, July 25th. Wolfe Research upgraded shares of 3M from an “underperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 29th. Finally, Barclays raised their price objective on shares of 3M from $96.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 25th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, 3M presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $104.30.

3M Price Performance

Shares of MMM stock traded down $0.37 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $95.34. 7,587,195 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,214,315. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.72, a current ratio of 1.05 and a quick ratio of 0.72. The company has a market cap of $52.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -7.14, a P/E/G ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 0.98. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $93.09 and its two-hundred day moving average is $98.98. 3M has a fifty-two week low of $85.35 and a fifty-two week high of $130.02.

3M (NYSE:MMM) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 24th. The conglomerate reported $2.68 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.34 by $0.34. The firm had revenue of $8.31 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.99 billion. 3M had a positive return on equity of 47.18% and a negative net margin of 22.59%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 3.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $2.69 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that 3M will post 9.12 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

3M Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 12th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 17th will be issued a dividend of $1.50 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 16th. This represents a $6.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.29%. 3M’s dividend payout ratio is currently -44.94%.

About 3M

3M Company provides diversified technology services in the United States and internationally. The company operates through four segments: Safety and Industrial; Transportation and Electronics; Health Care; and Consumer. The 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.