3M (NYSE:MMM) Shares Up 0.2%

3M (NYSE:MMM)’s stock price rose 0.2% on Friday . The company traded as high as $98.19 and last traded at $96.99. Approximately 1,089,363 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 81% from the average daily volume of 5,860,154 shares. The stock had previously closed at $96.81.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently commented on MMM. Bank of America lowered their target price on 3M from $110.00 to $100.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 2nd. StockNews.com raised shares of 3M from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 25th. Barclays dropped their target price on 3M from $126.00 to $107.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 2nd. 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 research note on Wednesday, January 24th. Finally, Citigroup increased their price objective on 3M from $98.00 to $100.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating, two have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $103.70.

3M Price Performance

The company has a market cap of $53.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -7.64, a PEG ratio of 2.17 and a beta of 1.00. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $96.05 and a 200-day simple moving average of $97.54. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.17, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a current ratio of 1.64.

3M (NYSE:MMM) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 30th. The conglomerate reported $2.39 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.10 by $0.29. The firm had revenue of $8 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.64 billion. 3M had a positive return on equity of 95.80% and a negative net margin of 21.57%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.97 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts predict that 3M will post 7.05 earnings per share 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 given a dividend of $1.51 per share. This is a positive change from 3M’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.50. This represents a $6.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.22%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 15th. 3M’s dividend payout ratio is presently -47.48%.

Insider Buying and Selling at 3M

In related news, insider Rodriguez Beatriz Karin Chavez sold 426 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $92.32, for a total value of $39,328.32. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 3,966 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $366,141.12. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.34% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS boosted its stake in shares of 3M by 15.4% during the third quarter. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS now owns 110,988 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $10,391,000 after acquiring an additional 14,775 shares during the last quarter. Shoker Investment Counsel Inc. increased its stake in 3M by 49.7% in the third quarter. Shoker Investment Counsel Inc. now owns 16,747 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $1,568,000 after purchasing an additional 5,561 shares during the last quarter. MWA Asset Management acquired a new stake in shares of 3M in the fourth quarter worth $1,723,000. Diversified Trust Co lifted its holdings in shares of 3M by 1.4% during the 4th quarter. Diversified Trust Co now owns 18,487 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $2,021,000 after acquiring an additional 263 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board purchased a new stake in 3M during the 3rd quarter worth $11,908,000. 65.25% of the stock is 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.