3M (NYSE:MMM) Stock Price Up 1.4%

3M (NYSE:MMM)’s stock price shot up 1.4% during mid-day trading on Tuesday . The company traded as high as $94.04 and last traded at $93.91. 822,587 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 86% from the average session volume of 5,766,302 shares. The stock had previously closed at $92.62.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on MMM. StockNews.com upgraded 3M from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday. Mizuho reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $105.00 price target on shares of 3M in a research report on Wednesday, March 27th. Bank of America dropped their price target on 3M from $110.00 to $100.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on 3M from $112.00 to $105.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 24th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on 3M from $118.00 to $110.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 17th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating, one has assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $104.00.

3M Trading Down 1.1 %

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 50-day moving average of $95.72 and a 200-day moving average of $97.39.

3M (NYSE:MMM) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 23rd. The conglomerate reported $2.42 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.31 by $0.11. The business had revenue of $8.01 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.69 billion. 3M had a positive return on equity of 62.45% and a negative net margin of 21.40%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 1.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.28 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that 3M will post 7.87 EPS for the current year.

3M Increases Dividend

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

Insider Buying and Selling at 3M

In other 3M news, insider Rodriguez Beatriz Karin Chavez sold 426 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $92.32, for a total transaction of $39,328.32. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly 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 this link. Company insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On 3M

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake 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 worth $4,590,533,000 after purchasing an additional 317,483 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake 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 worth $1,320,649,000 after purchasing an additional 43,732 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of 3M in the 4th quarter worth $502,585,000. Invesco Ltd. increased its stake in 3M by 2.4% in the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 4,082,950 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $382,246,000 after buying an additional 94,864 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nuance Investments LLC increased its stake in 3M by 10.1% in the 3rd quarter. Nuance Investments LLC now owns 4,062,557 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $380,337,000 after buying an additional 371,935 shares in the last quarter. 65.25% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.