3M (NYSE:MMM) Trading Down 1% – Here’s Why

3M (NYSE:MMM) fell 1% during trading on Friday . The company traded as low as $148.07 and last traded at $149.80. 1,668,477 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 59% from the average session volume of 4,037,035 shares. The stock had previously closed at $151.27.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently commented on MMM. 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. Citigroup boosted their price objective on 3M from $142.00 to $152.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note 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. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded 3M from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $140.00 to $170.00 in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. Finally, Barclays boosted their price objective on 3M from $161.00 to $165.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $149.13.

3M Price Performance

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 firm has a market capitalization of $81.63 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.91, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.30 and a beta of 0.97. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $148.35 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $137.52.

3M (NYSE:MMM) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 21st. The conglomerate reported $1.68 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.66 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $6.01 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.77 billion. 3M had a return on equity of 100.77% and a net margin of 15.71%. The company’s revenue was down 25.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $2.42 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts expect that 3M will post 7.8 EPS for the current fiscal year.

3M Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 12th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 14th were given a dividend of $0.73 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 14th. This is a positive change from 3M’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.70. This represents a $2.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.94%. 3M’s dividend payout ratio is 38.68%.

Insider Activity

In related news, CAO Theresa E. Reinseth sold 2,309 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $149.95, for a total transaction of $346,234.55. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 4,417 shares in the company, valued at $662,329.15. This represents a 34.33 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, insider Christian T. Goralski, Jr. sold 6,318 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $149.43, for a total value of $944,098.74. Following the sale, the insider now owns 5,024 shares of the company’s stock, 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. In the last three months, insiders have sold 113,639 shares of company stock worth $17,163,446. 0.34% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On 3M

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans lifted its holdings in 3M by 5.6% in the 3rd quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 64,013 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $8,751,000 after buying an additional 3,404 shares during the period. LPL Financial LLC lifted its holdings in 3M by 1.3% in the 3rd quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 737,531 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $100,820,000 after buying an additional 9,158 shares during the period. Eagle Asset Management Inc. purchased a new stake in 3M in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $6,191,000. Nwam LLC purchased a new stake in 3M in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $1,754,000. Finally, Leelyn Smith LLC lifted its holdings in 3M by 1.3% in the 3rd quarter. Leelyn Smith LLC now owns 21,513 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $2,941,000 after buying an additional 277 shares during the period. 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.