3M (NYSE:MMM) Shares Up 0.4%

3M (NYSE:MMM) traded up 0.4% during trading on Friday . The stock traded as high as $92.15 and last traded at $91.84. 720,532 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 88% from the average session volume of 5,827,142 shares. The stock had previously closed at $91.48.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have weighed in on MMM. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on shares of 3M from $112.00 to $105.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, January 24th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of 3M from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Citigroup lifted their target price on shares of 3M from $95.31 to $98.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, April 8th. Barclays lowered their price target on 3M from $126.00 to $107.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 2nd. Finally, Mizuho reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $105.00 target price on shares of 3M in a report on Wednesday, March 27th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating, one has given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, 3M currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $104.00.

3M Stock Performance

The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $95.77 and a 200 day simple moving average of $97.22. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.69, a current ratio of 1.07 and a quick ratio of 0.76. The firm has a market cap of $50.93 billion, a PE ratio of -7.28, a PEG ratio of 1.61 and a beta of 1.02.

3M (NYSE:MMM) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, January 23rd. The conglomerate reported $2.42 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.31 by $0.11. 3M had a negative net margin of 21.40% and a positive return on equity of 62.45%. The company had revenue of $8.01 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.69 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.28 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 1.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts forecast that 3M will post 8.79 EPS for the current year.

3M Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 12th. Investors of record on Friday, February 16th were paid a dividend of $1.51 per share. This is a boost from 3M’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.50. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 15th. This represents a $6.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.56%. 3M’s payout ratio is -47.82%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Rodriguez Beatriz Karin Chavez sold 426 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $92.32, for a total value of $39,328.32. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 3,966 shares in the company, valued at $366,141.12. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.34% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On 3M

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of MMM. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC increased its stake in 3M by 73,903.2% in the 4th quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 6,656,588 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $798,258,000 after acquiring an additional 6,647,593 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in 3M in the fourth quarter worth $502,585,000. Pacer Advisors Inc. raised its stake in 3M by 1,273.9% during the fourth quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 3,783,726 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $413,637,000 after purchasing an additional 3,508,334 shares in the last quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. lifted its position in 3M by 313.8% during the fourth quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 2,650,961 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $289,803,000 after purchasing an additional 2,010,319 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Renaissance Technologies LLC grew its stake in shares of 3M by 1,889.1% in the 1st quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 1,356,600 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $201,971,000 after buying an additional 1,288,400 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 65.25% of the company’s stock.

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.