3M (NYSE:MMM) Stock Price Down 4% – Time to Sell?

3M (NYSE:MMM) dropped 4% during trading on Tuesday . The company traded as low as $147.31 and last traded at $147.33. Approximately 2,089,940 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 51% from the average daily volume of 4,304,441 shares. The stock had previously closed at $153.42.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MMM has been the subject of a number of research reports. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of 3M in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. Wells Fargo & Company raised 3M from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $140.00 to $170.00 in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on 3M from $162.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Citigroup upped their target price on 3M from $142.00 to $152.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Finally, Bank of America lifted their price target on 3M from $160.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, 3M presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $148.87.

3M Stock Down 5.0 %

The company has a quick ratio of 1.08, a current ratio of 1.41 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.86. The firm has a market capitalization of $79.13 billion, a PE ratio of 19.31, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.30 and a beta of 0.96. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $143.22 and its 200-day moving average price is $135.74.

3M (NYSE:MMM) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, January 21st. The conglomerate reported $1.68 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.66 by $0.02. 3M had a net margin of 15.71% and a return on equity of 100.77%. The company had revenue of $6.01 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.77 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.42 EPS. The company’s revenue was down 25.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts predict that 3M will post 7.8 EPS for the current fiscal year.

3M Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 12th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 14th will be paid a $0.73 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 14th. This represents a $2.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.00%. This is an increase from 3M’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.70. 3M’s payout ratio is 38.68%.

Insider Activity at 3M

In other news, CAO Theresa E. Reinseth sold 2,309 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $149.95, for a total transaction of $346,234.55. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 4,417 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $662,329.15. This represents a 34.33 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Christian T. Goralski, Jr. sold 6,318 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $149.43, for a total value of $944,098.74. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 5,024 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $750,736.32. This trade represents a 55.70 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 113,639 shares of company stock valued at $17,163,446. 0.34% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On 3M

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of MMM. State Street Corp grew its stake in 3M by 1.1% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 27,194,612 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $3,717,503,000 after buying an additional 302,900 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in 3M by 2.5% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 11,574,414 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $1,493,655,000 after acquiring an additional 280,048 shares during the period. FMR LLC grew its position in shares of 3M by 88.7% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 8,961,866 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $1,225,087,000 after purchasing an additional 4,212,409 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp increased its stake in shares of 3M by 12.6% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 6,752,944 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $871,738,000 after purchasing an additional 755,155 shares during the period. Finally, Capital World Investors lifted its position in shares of 3M by 25.4% during the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 6,153,924 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $794,410,000 after purchasing an additional 1,248,093 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 65.25% of the company’s stock.

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.