3M (NYSE:MMM) Price Target Raised to $185.00

3M (NYSE:MMM) had its price objective raised by Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft from $177.00 to $185.00 in a research note issued to investors on Thursday morning,MarketScreener reports. They currently have a buy rating on the conglomerate’s stock.

A number of other research analysts have also recently commented on MMM. JPMorgan Chase & Co. set a $167.00 price objective on 3M in a report on Friday, July 18th. Wells Fargo & Company reiterated an “overweight” rating on shares of 3M in a research report on Friday, July 18th. Barclays set a $170.00 price objective on 3M in a research report on Friday, July 18th. Finally, Weiss Ratings upgraded 3M from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research report on Saturday, September 27th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $164.10.

3M Trading Down 0.2%

Shares of 3M stock opened at $158.45 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $84.40 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.04, a P/E/G ratio of 2.88 and a beta of 1.05. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $154.38 and its 200-day simple moving average is $148.58. 3M has a 1-year low of $121.98 and a 1-year high of $164.15. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.87, a current ratio of 1.72 and a quick ratio of 1.20.

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

3M Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 12th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 25th were given a dividend of $0.73 per share. This represents a $2.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.8%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 25th. 3M’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 40.61%.

Insider Buying and Selling at 3M

In other news, CAO Theresa E. Reinseth sold 3,477 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 2,561 shares in the company, valued at $385,763.43. This trade represents a 57.59% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Christian T. Goralski, Jr. sold 6,165 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $150.18, for a total value of $925,859.70. Following the transaction, the insider owned 2,900 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $435,522. This represents a 68.01% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of 3M

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of MMM. Nuveen LLC acquired a new stake in shares of 3M in the first quarter valued at $235,020,000. Alliancebernstein L.P. raised its stake in shares of 3M by 23.1% in the first quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 3,127,734 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $459,339,000 after acquiring an additional 586,851 shares in the last quarter. Amundi raised its stake in shares of 3M by 20.7% in the first quarter. Amundi now owns 3,030,397 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $423,471,000 after acquiring an additional 519,302 shares in the last quarter. Zurich Insurance Group Ltd FI acquired a new stake in shares of 3M in the first quarter valued at $68,822,000. Finally, UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC raised its stake in shares of 3M by 10.9% in the first quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 4,198,538 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $616,597,000 after acquiring an additional 414,160 shares in the last quarter. 65.25% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.