3M (NYSE:MMM) Trading Down 1%

3M (NYSE:MMM) traded down 1% during trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as low as $92.00 and last traded at $92.09. 682,597 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 88% from the average session volume of 5,737,894 shares. The stock had previously closed at $93.00.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have commented on the stock. Citigroup lifted their price objective on shares of 3M from $95.31 to $98.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, April 8th. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their target price on shares of 3M from $84.00 to $78.00 and set an “underperform” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 2nd. Barclays decreased their target price on shares of 3M from $126.00 to $107.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 2nd. StockNews.com upgraded shares of 3M from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday. Finally, Mizuho reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $105.00 target price on shares of 3M in a research note on Wednesday, March 27th. One 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 stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $104.00.

3M Trading Down 0.0 %

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 company has a market cap of $50.58 billion, a PE ratio of -7.24, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.82 and a beta of 1.02. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $95.70 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $97.35.

3M (NYSE:MMM) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 23rd. The conglomerate reported $2.42 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 business had revenue of $8.01 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.69 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $2.28 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that 3M will post 7.87 EPS for the current fiscal year.

3M Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 12th. Investors of record on Friday, February 16th were paid a $1.51 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 15th. This represents a $6.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.61%. This is an increase from 3M’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.50. 3M’s payout ratio is currently -47.82%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Rodriguez Beatriz Karin Chavez sold 426 shares of 3M stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $92.32, for a total value of $39,328.32. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 3,966 shares in the company, valued at $366,141.12. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.34% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of 3M

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Mesirow Financial Investment Management Inc. acquired a new stake in 3M during the first quarter worth approximately $875,000. Checchi Capital Advisers LLC raised its holdings in 3M by 13.5% during the first quarter. Checchi Capital Advisers LLC now owns 5,863 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $622,000 after purchasing an additional 696 shares in the last quarter. TRUE Private Wealth Advisors raised its holdings in 3M by 348.1% during the first quarter. TRUE Private Wealth Advisors now owns 28,815 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $3,056,000 after purchasing an additional 22,384 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its holdings in 3M by 10.6% during the first quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 4,531,722 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $480,680,000 after purchasing an additional 435,439 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Equitable Trust Co. raised its holdings in 3M by 18.6% during the first quarter. Equitable Trust Co. now owns 8,473 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $899,000 after purchasing an additional 1,329 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 65.25% of the company’s stock.

About 3M

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.