Weiss Ratings Reiterates Hold (C+) Rating for 3M (NYSE:MMM)

Weiss Ratings reaffirmed their hold (c+) rating on shares of 3M (NYSE:MMM) in a report issued on Wednesday,Weiss Ratings reports.

Several other equities research analysts also recently commented on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on 3M from $140.00 to $167.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, May 16th. Citigroup upped their price target on 3M from $141.00 to $160.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, May 30th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price target on 3M from $98.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Bank of America upped their price target on 3M from $175.00 to $179.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 6th. Finally, Barclays upped their price target on 3M from $160.00 to $164.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $155.83.

3M Trading Down 1.8%

Shares of MMM stock opened at $142.17 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.86, a quick ratio of 1.08 and a current ratio of 1.41. 3M has a 1 year low of $98.26 and a 1 year high of $156.35. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $142.25 and a two-hundred day moving average of $141.77. The firm has a market capitalization of $76.51 billion, a PE ratio of 18.83, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.30 and a beta of 1.03.

3M (NYSE:MMM) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 22nd. The conglomerate reported $1.88 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.77 by $0.11. The business had revenue of $5.80 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.78 billion. 3M had a return on equity of 100.77% and a net margin of 15.71%. As a group, research analysts expect that 3M will post 7.8 EPS for the current year.

3M Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 12th. Investors of record on Friday, May 23rd were issued a dividend of $0.73 per share. This represents a $2.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.05%. 3M’s dividend payout ratio is 36.87%.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP John Patrick Banovetz sold 7,759 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $148.37, for a total value of $1,151,202.83. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 31,372 shares in the company, valued at $4,654,663.64. The trade was a 19.83% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Zoe L. Dickson sold 7,915 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $149.02, for a total value of $1,179,493.30. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 6,127 shares in the company, valued at approximately $913,045.54. This trade represents a 56.37% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.48% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On 3M

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Brighton Jones LLC boosted its stake in shares of 3M by 26.6% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 8,898 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $1,149,000 after buying an additional 1,872 shares during the period. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC lifted its stake in 3M by 14.1% during the fourth quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 209,848 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $27,214,000 after purchasing an additional 25,895 shares during the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp lifted its stake in 3M by 5.7% during the fourth quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 93,938 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $12,126,000 after purchasing an additional 5,026 shares during the last quarter. TFC Financial Management Inc. lifted its stake in 3M by 1.1% during the fourth quarter. TFC Financial Management Inc. now owns 7,410 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $957,000 after purchasing an additional 82 shares during the last quarter. Finally, PrairieView Partners LLC lifted its stake in 3M by 1.1% during the fourth quarter. PrairieView Partners LLC now owns 38,298 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $4,943,000 after purchasing an additional 407 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 65.25% of the company’s stock.

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.