3M (NYSE:MMM) Upgraded at StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of 3M (NYSE:MMM) from a buy rating to a strong-buy rating in a research note published on Thursday.

Several other research analysts have also recently issued reports on MMM. Bank of America decreased their target price on shares of 3M from $110.00 to $100.00 and set a neutral rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 2nd. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their price objective on shares of 3M from $84.00 to $78.00 and set an underperform rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on shares of 3M from $118.00 to $110.00 and set a neutral rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 17th. Citigroup boosted their price objective on shares of 3M from $95.31 to $98.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a report on Monday, April 8th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on shares of 3M from $112.00 to $105.00 and set an equal weight rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 24th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating, one has assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus price target of $104.00.

3M Stock Down 0.7 %

Shares of 3M stock opened at $91.42 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.69, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a current ratio of 1.07. The stock has a market capitalization of $50.59 billion, a PE ratio of -7.24, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.82 and a beta of 1.02. 3M has a 52-week low of $71.12 and a 52-week high of $95.67. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $95.70 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $97.35.

3M (NYSE:MMM) last issued 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. The business had revenue of $8.01 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.69 billion. 3M had a negative net margin of 21.40% and a positive return on equity of 62.45%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $2.28 earnings per share. On average, analysts anticipate that 3M will post 7.87 EPS for the current fiscal year.

3M Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 12th. Investors of record on Friday, February 16th were given a dividend of $1.51 per share. This is a positive change 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 6.61%. 3M’s dividend payout ratio is currently -47.82%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Rodriguez Beatriz Karin Chavez sold 426 shares of the company’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 sale, the insider now owns 3,966 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $366,141.12. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 0.34% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On 3M

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Mesirow Financial Investment Management Inc. purchased a new stake in 3M during the first quarter valued at $875,000. Checchi Capital Advisers LLC raised its stake in 3M by 13.5% during the first quarter. Checchi Capital Advisers LLC now owns 5,863 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $622,000 after purchasing an additional 696 shares in the last quarter. TRUE Private Wealth Advisors raised its stake in 3M by 348.1% during the first quarter. TRUE Private Wealth Advisors now owns 28,815 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $3,056,000 after purchasing an additional 22,384 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its stake 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 valued at $480,680,000 after purchasing an additional 435,439 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Equitable Trust Co. raised its stake in shares of 3M by 18.6% in the first quarter. Equitable Trust Co. now owns 8,473 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $899,000 after acquiring an additional 1,329 shares during the period. 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.