3M (NYSE:MMM – Get Free Report) fell 0.2% on Tuesday after Royal Bank of Canada lowered their price target on the stock from $84.00 to $78.00. Royal Bank of Canada currently has an underperform rating on the stock. 3M traded as low as $91.90 and last traded at $93.83. 2,980,937 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 43% from the average session volume of 5,192,063 shares. The stock had previously closed at $94.02.
Several other research firms also recently weighed in on MMM. Citigroup dropped their price objective on 3M from $117.00 to $104.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, January 24th. Mizuho reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $105.00 price objective on shares of 3M in a research note on Wednesday, March 27th. Barclays dropped their price objective on 3M from $126.00 to $107.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday. StockNews.com initiated coverage on 3M in a research report on Wednesday, March 27th. They set a “buy” rating for the company. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on 3M from $112.00 to $105.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 24th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $104.10.
Insider Transactions at 3M
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 sale, the insider now owns 3,966 shares in the company, valued at $366,141.12. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.51% of the company’s stock.
Institutional Inflows and Outflows
Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in 3M by 0.7% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 49,033,679 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $4,590,533,000 after buying an additional 317,483 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its stake in 3M by 0.6% in the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 33,311,747 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $3,334,173,000 after acquiring an additional 196,238 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in 3M by 0.4% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 12,080,578 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $1,320,649,000 after acquiring an additional 43,732 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in 3M by 5.7% in the first quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 11,474,791 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $1,203,635,000 after acquiring an additional 619,370 shares during the period. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted its stake in 3M by 8.3% in the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 10,769,973 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $1,291,535,000 after acquiring an additional 825,223 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 65.25% of the company’s stock.
3M Stock Performance
The company has a quick ratio of 0.76, a current ratio of 1.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.69. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $96.54 and a 200 day simple moving average of $97.68. The company has a market capitalization of $51.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -7.34, a P/E/G ratio of 1.50 and a beta of 1.02.
3M (NYSE:MMM – Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, January 23rd. The conglomerate reported $2.42 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.31 by $0.11. The company had revenue of $8.01 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.69 billion. 3M had a positive return on equity of 62.45% and a negative net margin of 21.40%. 3M’s quarterly revenue was down 1.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.28 earnings per share. As a group, analysts anticipate that 3M will post 9.77 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.
3M Increases Dividend
The firm also recently disclosed 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 was Thursday, February 15th. This is an increase from 3M’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.50. This represents a $6.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.50%. 3M’s payout ratio is currently -47.82%.
About 3M
3M Company provides diversified technology services in the United States and internationally. The company operates through four segments: Safety and Industrial; Transportation and Electronics; Health Care; and Consumer. The 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.