3M (NYSE:MMM) Upgraded to “Overweight” at JPMorgan Chase & Co.

JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded shares of 3M (NYSE:MMM) from a neutral rating to an overweight rating in a research note issued to investors on Wednesday, MarketBeat Ratings reports. The firm currently has $111.00 price objective on the conglomerate’s stock, up from their prior price objective of $110.00.

Other equities analysts have also recently issued reports about the company. Citigroup increased their price target on 3M from $95.31 to $98.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a report on Monday, April 8th. StockNews.com upgraded 3M from a buy rating to a strong-buy rating in a report on Thursday, April 25th. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their target price on 3M from $84.00 to $78.00 and set an underperform rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 2nd. Barclays lowered their target price on 3M from $126.00 to $107.00 and set an overweight rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 2nd. Finally, Mizuho reaffirmed a neutral rating and set a $105.00 target price on shares of 3M in a research report on Wednesday, March 27th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating, two have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of Hold and an average price target of $103.70.

3M Price Performance

3M stock opened at $97.15 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $53.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -7.64, a PEG ratio of 1.78 and a beta of 1.00. 3M has a 52-week low of $71.12 and a 52-week high of $99.70. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $96.14 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $97.59. 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 posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 30th. The conglomerate reported $2.39 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.10 by $0.29. The firm had revenue of $8 billion for 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 period in the prior year, the business earned $1.97 EPS. On average, equities analysts predict that 3M will post 7.26 earnings per share for the current year.

3M Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 12th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 16th were given a dividend of $1.51 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 15th. This is a positive change from 3M’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.50. This represents a $6.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.22%. 3M’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently -47.48%.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Rodriguez Beatriz Karin Chavez sold 426 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $92.32, for a total transaction of $39,328.32. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 3,966 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $366,141.12. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of 3M by 0.7% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 49,033,679 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $4,590,533,000 after acquiring an additional 317,483 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in 3M by 0.4% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 12,080,578 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $1,320,649,000 after purchasing an additional 43,732 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new position in 3M in the 4th quarter worth about $502,585,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its stake in 3M by 10.6% in the 1st quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 4,531,722 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $480,680,000 after purchasing an additional 435,439 shares during the period. Finally, Invesco Ltd. boosted its stake in 3M by 2.4% in the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 4,082,950 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $382,246,000 after purchasing an additional 94,864 shares during the period. 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.