3M (NYSE:MMM) Upgraded to Buy by HSBC

3M (NYSE:MMM) was upgraded by stock analysts at HSBC from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report issued on Friday, MarketBeat reports. The brokerage currently has a $115.00 price objective on the conglomerate’s stock. HSBC’s target price would suggest a potential upside of 18.14% from the stock’s previous close.

MMM has been the topic of several other research reports. Citigroup upped their price target on 3M from $98.00 to $100.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 1st. Bank of America cut their price objective on 3M from $110.00 to $100.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on 3M from $112.00 to $105.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 24th. StockNews.com upgraded 3M from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, April 25th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on 3M from $78.00 to $87.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 1st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating, three have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $104.30.

3M Stock Performance

Shares of 3M stock opened at $97.34 on Friday. 3M has a 52 week low of $71.12 and a 52 week high of $99.70. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $96.40 and its 200-day simple moving average is $97.83. The firm has a market cap of $53.86 billion, a PE ratio of -7.65, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.79 and a beta of 1.00. The company has a quick ratio of 1.27, a current ratio of 1.64 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.17.

3M (NYSE:MMM) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 30th. The conglomerate reported $2.39 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.10 by $0.29. 3M had a positive return on equity of 95.80% and a negative net margin of 21.57%. The business had revenue of $8 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.64 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.97 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that 3M will post 7.23 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other 3M news, insider Rodriguez Beatriz Karin Chavez sold 426 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $92.32, for a total transaction of $39,328.32. Following the sale, the insider now owns 3,966 shares in the company, valued at approximately $366,141.12. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 0.38% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of 3M by 0.7% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 49,033,679 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $4,590,533,000 after acquiring an additional 317,483 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of 3M by 0.4% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 12,080,578 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $1,320,649,000 after acquiring an additional 43,732 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of 3M in the 4th quarter valued at about $502,585,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its holdings in shares of 3M by 10.6% in the 1st quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 4,531,722 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $480,680,000 after acquiring an additional 435,439 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of 3M by 2.4% in the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 4,082,950 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $382,246,000 after acquiring an additional 94,864 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.