3M Company (NYSE:MMM) Receives $161.78 Average PT from Analysts

3M Company (NYSE:MMM) has received a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the ten brokerages that are currently covering the stock, MarketBeat reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average twelve-month target price among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $161.7778.

MMM has been the topic of several analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company reaffirmed an “overweight” rating on shares of 3M in a research note on Friday, July 18th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. set a $167.00 price target on shares of 3M in a research note on Friday, July 18th. Weiss Ratings raised shares of 3M from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Saturday, September 27th. Finally, Barclays set a $170.00 price target on shares of 3M in a research note on Friday, July 18th.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Christian T. Goralski, Jr. sold 6,165 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $150.18, for a total value of $925,859.70. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 2,900 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $435,522. The trade was a 68.01% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CAO Theresa E. Reinseth sold 3,477 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $150.63, for a total transaction of $523,740.51. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 2,561 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $385,763.43. The trade was a 57.59% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.34% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On 3M

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its position in shares of 3M by 5.2% in the 3rd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 17,466 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $2,710,000 after purchasing an additional 867 shares during the last quarter. Trust Co of the South increased its position in shares of 3M by 30.5% in the 3rd quarter. Trust Co of the South now owns 2,501 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $388,000 after purchasing an additional 584 shares during the last quarter. Global Wealth Strategies & Associates increased its position in shares of 3M by 50.2% in the 3rd quarter. Global Wealth Strategies & Associates now owns 945 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $147,000 after purchasing an additional 316 shares during the last quarter. American Trust acquired a new position in shares of 3M in the 2nd quarter valued at about $207,000. Finally, Rexford Capital Inc. acquired a new position in shares of 3M in the 2nd quarter valued at about $749,000. Institutional investors own 65.25% of the company’s stock.

3M Stock Performance

Shares of MMM stock opened at $158.61 on Friday. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $154.24 and its 200-day simple moving average is $148.55. 3M has a 52 week low of $121.98 and a 52 week high of $164.15. The company has a current ratio of 1.72, a quick ratio of 1.20 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.87. The company has a market cap of $84.48 billion, a PE ratio of 22.06, a P/E/G ratio of 2.83 and a beta of 1.05.

3M (NYSE:MMM) last issued its earnings results on Friday, July 18th. The conglomerate reported $2.16 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.01 by $0.15. 3M had a net margin of 16.01% and a return on equity of 96.48%. The business had revenue of $6.16 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.09 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.93 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that 3M will post 7.8 EPS for the current year.

3M Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 12th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 25th were given a $0.73 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 25th. This represents a $2.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.8%. 3M’s payout ratio is presently 40.61%.

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.