3M (NYSE:MMM) Receives $144.13 Average Price Target from Brokerages

Shares of 3M (NYSE:MMM) have been assigned an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the sixteen research firms that are currently covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, two have assigned a hold recommendation and twelve have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month price objective among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $148.87.

Several analysts have recently commented on the stock. Bank of America increased their target price on shares of 3M from $160.00 to $175.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday. UBS Group upgraded 3M from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $130.00 to $184.00 in a research note on Wednesday, November 13th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of 3M in a report on Saturday, January 18th. Citigroup upped their price objective on 3M from $142.00 to $152.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, Melius Research upgraded 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.

Institutional Trading of 3M

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. American Century Companies Inc. boosted its position in shares of 3M by 0.8% in the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 82,161 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $8,396,000 after acquiring an additional 650 shares during the period. Wealth Alliance grew its position in shares of 3M by 18.2% during the 2nd quarter. Wealth Alliance now owns 2,600 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $266,000 after purchasing an additional 401 shares in the last quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV increased its holdings in shares of 3M by 29.9% in the second quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV now owns 69,283 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $7,080,000 after purchasing an additional 15,939 shares during the period. Blair William & Co. IL raised its position in shares of 3M by 4.2% in the second quarter. Blair William & Co. IL now owns 85,724 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $8,760,000 after buying an additional 3,481 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Intech Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in 3M by 17.6% during the second quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 34,758 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $3,552,000 after buying an additional 5,205 shares during the period. 65.25% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

3M Trading Up 0.4 %

MMM opened at $149.64 on Friday. 3M has a fifty-two week low of $75.40 and a fifty-two week high of $152.08. The firm has a market capitalization of $81.49 billion, a PE ratio of 19.82, a P/E/G ratio of 2.42 and a beta of 0.95. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.41, a current ratio of 1.43 and a quick ratio of 1.08. The company’s 50-day moving average is $132.09 and its 200 day moving average is $128.67.

3M (NYSE:MMM) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, January 21st. The conglomerate reported $1.68 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.66 by $0.02. 3M had a return on equity of 97.19% and a net margin of 15.71%. The company had revenue of $6.01 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5,770,390 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $2.42 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 25.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts predict that 3M will post 7.66 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

3M Dividend Announcement

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

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.