3M (NYSE:MMM) Stock Price Up 0.1% – Time to Buy?

Shares of 3M (NYSE:MMM) traded up 0.1% during trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as $154.43 and last traded at $153.60. 293,218 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 93% from the average session volume of 4,001,932 shares. The stock had previously closed at $153.50.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MMM has been the topic of several analyst reports. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of 3M in a report on Saturday. Wells Fargo & Company raised shares of 3M from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $140.00 to $170.00 in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Barclays upped their price objective on 3M from $161.00 to $165.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “underperform” rating and issued a $96.00 price target on shares of 3M in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. Finally, Citigroup increased their price objective on 3M from $142.00 to $152.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, 3M presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $149.13.

3M Trading Down 0.7 %

The stock has a market cap of $82.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.19, a P/E/G ratio of 3.30 and a beta of 0.97. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $149.05 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $137.88. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.86, a quick ratio of 1.08 and a current ratio of 1.41.

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

3M Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 12th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 14th were given a dividend of $0.73 per share. This is a positive change from 3M’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.70. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 14th. This represents a $2.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.92%. 3M’s payout ratio is 38.68%.

Insider Activity at 3M

In other news, EVP Victoria Clarke sold 1,750 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $154.22, for a total transaction of $269,885.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 194 shares in the company, valued at $29,918.68. The trade was a 90.02 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, insider Rodriguez Beatriz Karin Chavez sold 1,645 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $150.25, for a total value of $247,161.25. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 5,153 shares in the company, valued at approximately $774,238.25. This trade represents a 24.20 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 113,639 shares of company stock valued at $17,163,446. 0.34% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

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

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.