3M (NYSE:MMM) Upgraded at Wells Fargo & Company

Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of 3M (NYSE:MMM) from an equal weight rating to an overweight rating in a research note released on Wednesday morning, Marketbeat.com reports. The firm currently has $170.00 price objective on the conglomerate’s stock, up from their prior price objective of $140.00.

A number of other equities analysts have also recently issued reports on MMM. Citigroup boosted their price objective on shares of 3M from $142.00 to $152.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price target on 3M from $100.00 to $96.00 and set an “underperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on 3M from $162.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday. Melius Research raised 3M from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $180.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. Finally, Barclays lifted their price target on shares of 3M from $161.00 to $165.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $148.87.

3M Stock Down 0.0 %

MMM opened at $149.61 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $81.47 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.82, a P/E/G ratio of 2.46 and a beta of 0.95. 3M has a 12 month low of $75.40 and a 12 month high of $152.08. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $132.43 and its 200-day moving average price is $128.82. The company has a current ratio of 1.41, a quick ratio of 1.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.86.

3M (NYSE:MMM) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 21st. The conglomerate reported $1.68 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.66 by $0.02. 3M had a return on equity of 100.77% and a net margin of 15.71%. The firm had revenue of $6.01 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5,770,390 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.42 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was down 25.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts expect that 3M will post 7.66 EPS for the current year.

3M Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, December 12th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 15th were issued a $0.70 dividend. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.87%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 15th. 3M’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 37.09%.

Institutional Trading of 3M

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. State Street Corp raised its stake in 3M by 1.1% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 27,194,612 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $3,717,503,000 after buying an additional 302,900 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC increased its holdings in shares of 3M by 88.7% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 8,961,866 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $1,225,087,000 after acquiring an additional 4,212,409 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC raised its position in shares of 3M by 1.2% in the 3rd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 3,815,625 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $521,596,000 after purchasing an additional 43,942 shares during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in 3M by 18.6% in the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 2,531,422 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $258,686,000 after purchasing an additional 396,773 shares in the last quarter. Finally, National Pension Service grew its position in 3M by 14.5% during the 3rd quarter. National Pension Service now owns 1,268,003 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $173,336,000 after purchasing an additional 161,036 shares during the last quarter. 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.