3M (NYSE:MMM) Receives $144.87 Average Price Target from Brokerages

3M (NYSE:MMM) has earned a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the sixteen brokerages that are currently covering the stock, Marketbeat reports. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, three have assigned a hold recommendation and eleven have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 1-year price objective among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $144.87.

MMM has been the subject of a number of research reports. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price objective on 3M from $99.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Melius upgraded 3M from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Melius Research upgraded 3M from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $180.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on 3M from $130.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, October 7th. Finally, Morgan Stanley started coverage on 3M in a report on Friday, September 6th. They issued an “underweight” rating and a $125.00 target price for the company.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. D.A. Davidson & CO. boosted its position in 3M by 16.2% in the 3rd quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. now owns 146,333 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $20,004,000 after buying an additional 20,421 shares during the last quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of 3M by 40.1% in the 3rd quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC now owns 18,217 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $2,490,000 after purchasing an additional 5,210 shares during the last quarter. Stonegate Investment Group LLC boosted its position in shares of 3M by 5.6% in the 3rd quarter. Stonegate Investment Group LLC now owns 252,847 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $34,564,000 after purchasing an additional 13,473 shares during the last quarter. Ausdal Financial Partners Inc. boosted its position in shares of 3M by 6.7% in the 2nd quarter. Ausdal Financial Partners Inc. now owns 3,991 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $408,000 after purchasing an additional 249 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Candriam S.C.A. boosted its position in shares of 3M by 19.2% in the 2nd quarter. Candriam S.C.A. now owns 38,469 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $3,931,000 after purchasing an additional 6,185 shares during the last quarter. 65.25% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

3M Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE MMM opened at $130.45 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.08, a current ratio of 1.43 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.41. The stock has a market capitalization of $71.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.47, a PEG ratio of 2.20 and a beta of 0.95. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $132.09 and its 200 day simple moving average is $120.88. 3M has a 52-week low of $75.40 and a 52-week high of $141.34.

3M (NYSE:MMM) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The conglomerate reported $1.98 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.93 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $6.29 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.06 billion. 3M had a return on equity of 104.66% and a net margin of 15.37%. The business’s revenue was down 24.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.68 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that 3M will post 7.27 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

3M Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 12th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 15th will be given a $0.70 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 15th. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.15%. 3M’s payout ratio is 35.35%.

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.