3M Company (NYSE:MMM) Receives $158.10 Consensus Target Price from Analysts

Key Points

• 3M Company has received a consensus rating of "Hold" from eleven ratings firms, with two analysts issuing a sell recommendation, two a hold recommendation, and seven a buy recommendation.
• Insider activity showed significant stock sales, with executives John Patrick Banovetz and Zoe L. Dickson selling 7,759 and 7,915 shares respectively, reflecting a decline in their ownership by 19.83% and 56.37%.
• The company recently declared a quarterly dividend of $0.73, which represents an annualized yield of 1.9%, with a current dividend payout ratio of 40.61%.

Shares of 3M Company (NYSE:MMM - Get Free Report) have received a consensus rating of "Hold" from the eleven ratings firms that are presently covering the company, Marketbeat reports. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, two have issued a hold recommendation and seven have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month price objective among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $158.10.

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on the stock. Weiss Ratings restated a "hold (c+)" rating on shares of 3M in a research report on Tuesday, July 29th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. set a $167.00 price target on 3M in a report on Friday, July 18th. Barclays set a $170.00 price target on shares of 3M in a research report on Friday, July 18th. Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their price objective on shares of 3M from $98.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an "underperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Finally, Citigroup increased their target price on 3M from $141.00 to $160.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, May 30th.

Insider Activity at 3M

In other 3M news, CAO Theresa E. Reinseth sold 3,477 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $150.63, for a total value of $523,740.51. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer 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 sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Zoe L. Dickson sold 7,915 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $149.02, for a total transaction of $1,179,493.30. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 6,127 shares of the company's stock, valued at $913,045.54. The trade was a 56.37% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 25,316 shares of company stock worth $3,780,296 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.34% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On 3M

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in MMM. Ensign Peak Advisors Inc grew its holdings in 3M by 29.2% during the fourth quarter. Ensign Peak Advisors Inc now owns 642,354 shares of the conglomerate's stock valued at $82,921,000 after purchasing an additional 145,146 shares during the period. Financial Gravity Asset Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of 3M during the first quarter worth $2,506,000. Synergy Asset Management LLC grew its stake in 3M by 122.7% in the first quarter. Synergy Asset Management LLC now owns 4,512 shares of the conglomerate's stock valued at $663,000 after acquiring an additional 2,486 shares during the period. Northstar Group Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of 3M during the first quarter worth about $262,000. Finally, Invesco Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of 3M by 51.6% during the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 4,468,549 shares of the conglomerate's stock valued at $576,845,000 after purchasing an additional 1,520,619 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 65.25% of the company's stock.

3M Trading Up 1.0%

Shares of MMM traded up $1.59 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $153.33. The company had a trading volume of 2,375,683 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,874,131. The stock has a market cap of $81.67 billion, a PE ratio of 21.33, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.92 and a beta of 1.05. 3M has a 1-year low of $121.98 and a 1-year high of $164.15. The company has a quick ratio of 1.20, a current ratio of 1.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.87. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $149.88 and a 200-day simple moving average of $146.93.

3M (NYSE:MMM - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, July 18th. The conglomerate reported $2.16 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.01 by $0.15. The company had revenue of $6.16 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.09 billion. 3M had a net margin of 16.01% and a return on equity of 96.48%. The company's quarterly revenue was up 1.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.93 EPS. Research analysts forecast that 3M will post 7.8 EPS for the current fiscal year.

3M Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 12th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 23rd were given a dividend of $0.73 per share. This represents a $2.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.9%. 3M's dividend payout ratio is currently 40.61%.

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.