3M (NYSE:MMM) Shares Up 0.8% – Time to Buy?

3M (NYSE:MMM)’s stock price traded up 0.8% during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as $149.04 and last traded at $147.07. 747,875 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 83% from the average session volume of 4,299,119 shares. The stock had previously closed at $145.86.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently commented on MMM. Barclays upped their price objective on 3M from $161.00 to $165.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of 3M in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. UBS Group raised shares of 3M from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $130.00 to $184.00 in a research note on Wednesday, November 13th. Wells Fargo & Company raised shares of 3M from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their target price for the company from $140.00 to $170.00 in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “underperform” rating and issued a $96.00 target price on shares of 3M in a report on Thursday, February 27th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, 3M presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $148.87.

3M Stock Performance

The stock has a fifty day moving average of $143.53 and a 200-day moving average of $135.87. The firm has a market capitalization of $80.49 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.62, a P/E/G ratio of 3.30 and a beta of 0.96. The company has a quick ratio of 1.08, a current ratio of 1.41 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.86.

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

3M Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 12th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 14th will be given a dividend of $0.73 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 14th. This is a boost from 3M’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.70. This represents a $2.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.97%. 3M’s payout ratio is 38.68%.

Insider Transactions at 3M

In other 3M news, EVP Victoria Clarke sold 1,750 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, January 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $154.22, for a total transaction of $269,885.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 194 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $29,918.68. This represents a 90.02 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Christian T. Goralski, Jr. sold 6,318 shares of 3M stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $149.43, for a total transaction of $944,098.74. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 5,024 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $750,736.32. This trade represents a 55.70 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 113,639 shares of company stock worth $17,163,446 in the last three months. Insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On 3M

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. D.A. Davidson & CO. raised its stake in 3M by 16.2% in the third 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 period. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its stake in 3M by 26.8% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 845,401 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $114,770,000 after acquiring an additional 178,450 shares during the period. Meyer Handelman Co. lifted its holdings in 3M by 1.4% during the 4th quarter. Meyer Handelman Co. now owns 197,618 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $25,511,000 after purchasing an additional 2,678 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC boosted its position in 3M by 88.7% during the third 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 during the period. Finally, USA Financial Formulas acquired a new position in shares of 3M in the fourth quarter valued at $816,000. 65.25% of the stock is currently 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.