3M (NYSE:MMM) Shares Down 1.9% – What’s Next?

3M (NYSE:MMM)’s stock price was down 1.9% during trading on Thursday . The stock traded as low as $149.42 and last traded at $149.77. Approximately 656,440 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 84% from the average daily volume of 3,988,310 shares. The stock had previously closed at $152.68.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently weighed in on MMM. Citigroup lifted their target price on 3M from $142.00 to $152.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on 3M from $162.00 to $165.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of 3M in a report on Saturday, March 22nd. Bank of America raised their price target on 3M from $175.00 to $179.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, March 6th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised shares of 3M from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $140.00 to $170.00 in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Two investment 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, 3M currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $149.13.

3M Stock Down 2.5 %

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.86, a quick ratio of 1.08 and a current ratio of 1.41. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $149.60 and its 200-day moving average price is $138.17. The stock has a market cap of $78.58 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.17, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.30 and a beta of 0.97.

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

3M Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 12th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 14th were given a $0.73 dividend. This represents a $2.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.02%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 14th. This is an increase from 3M’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.70. 3M’s dividend payout ratio is 38.68%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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

Institutional Investors Weigh In On 3M

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in MMM. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of 3M during the fourth quarter valued at $636,767,000. Invesco Ltd. increased its position in 3M by 51.6% during the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 4,468,549 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $576,845,000 after purchasing an additional 1,520,619 shares during the period. D1 Capital Partners L.P. bought a new stake in shares of 3M in the 4th quarter valued at about $175,110,000. Capital World Investors lifted its position in shares of 3M by 25.4% in the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 6,153,924 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $794,410,000 after purchasing an additional 1,248,093 shares during the period. Finally, Amundi boosted its stake in shares of 3M by 55.7% during the fourth quarter. Amundi now owns 2,511,095 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $337,815,000 after purchasing an additional 898,244 shares in the last quarter. 65.25% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.