3M (NYSE:MMM) Shares Down 0.9%

3M (NYSE:MMM)’s stock price dropped 0.9% during trading on Thursday . The company traded as low as $96.65 and last traded at $97.56. Approximately 1,766,843 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 70% from the average daily volume of 5,860,234 shares. The stock had previously closed at $98.44.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MMM has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on shares of 3M from $112.00 to $105.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 24th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of 3M from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, April 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded shares of 3M from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $110.00 to $111.00 in a report on Wednesday. Barclays decreased their target price on shares of 3M from $126.00 to $107.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 2nd. Finally, Mizuho reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $105.00 target price on shares of 3M in a research report on Wednesday, March 27th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating, two have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $103.70.

3M Stock Down 1.3 %

The company has a current ratio of 1.64, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.17. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $95.96 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $97.55. The firm has a market cap of $53.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -7.67, a PEG ratio of 2.13 and a beta of 1.00.

3M (NYSE:MMM) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, April 30th. The conglomerate reported $2.39 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.10 by $0.29. The company had revenue of $8 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.64 billion. 3M had a negative net margin of 21.57% and a positive return on equity of 95.80%. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.97 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that 3M will post 7.05 EPS for the current year.

3M Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 12th. Investors of record on Friday, February 16th were given a dividend of $1.51 per share. This represents a $6.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.21%. This is a boost from 3M’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.50. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 15th. 3M’s dividend payout ratio is currently -47.48%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other 3M news, insider Rodriguez Beatriz Karin Chavez sold 426 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $92.32, for a total transaction of $39,328.32. Following the sale, 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 legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.34% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On 3M

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS raised its holdings in 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 worth $10,391,000 after buying an additional 14,775 shares during the last quarter. Shoker Investment Counsel Inc. raised its holdings in shares of 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 purchased a new stake in shares of 3M in the fourth quarter valued at about $1,723,000. Diversified Trust Co raised its holdings in shares of 3M by 1.4% in the fourth quarter. Diversified Trust Co now owns 18,487 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $2,021,000 after purchasing an additional 263 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board purchased a new stake in shares of 3M in the third quarter valued at about $11,908,000. 65.25% of the stock is owned by 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.