3M (NYSE:MMM) Price Target Raised to $170.00

3M (NYSE:MMM - Free Report) had its price target increased by Wells Fargo & Company from $150.00 to $170.00 in a research report sent to investors on Tuesday morning,Benzinga reports. Wells Fargo & Company currently has an overweight rating on the conglomerate's stock.

MMM has been the topic of several other reports. Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their target price on 3M from $98.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an "underperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Weiss Ratings restated a "hold (c+)" rating on shares of 3M in a research note on Friday, June 27th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on 3M from $140.00 to $167.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, May 16th. Bank of America lifted their price target on 3M from $175.00 to $179.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, March 6th. Finally, Barclays lifted their price target on 3M from $160.00 to $164.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $155.83.

3M Stock Performance

Shares of MMM stock traded up $0.50 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $154.31. The company had a trading volume of 779,311 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,782,916. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $145.71 and its 200 day simple moving average is $143.18. 3M has a 52-week low of $98.26 and a 52-week high of $156.35. The stock has a market cap of $83.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.47, a PEG ratio of 3.16 and a beta of 1.02. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.72, a current ratio of 1.66 and a quick ratio of 1.25.

3M (NYSE:MMM - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results 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. 3M had a return on equity of 96.19% and a net margin of 17.79%. The company had revenue of $5.80 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.78 billion. Research analysts anticipate that 3M will post 7.8 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

3M Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 12th. Shareholders 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 yield of 1.89%. 3M's payout ratio is 36.87%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other 3M news, EVP John Patrick Banovetz sold 7,759 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Friday, May 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $148.37, for a total transaction of $1,151,202.83. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 31,372 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,654,663.64. The trade was a 19.83% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Zoe L. Dickson sold 7,915 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $149.02, for a total value of $1,179,493.30. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 6,127 shares in the company, valued at approximately $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. 0.48% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On 3M

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in MMM. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of 3M in the fourth quarter worth $636,767,000. Nuveen LLC acquired a new position in shares of 3M in the first quarter worth $235,020,000. Invesco Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of 3M by 51.6% in the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 4,468,549 shares of the conglomerate's stock worth $576,845,000 after acquiring an additional 1,520,619 shares during the last quarter. D1 Capital Partners L.P. acquired a new position in shares of 3M in the fourth quarter worth $175,110,000. Finally, Capital World Investors raised its holdings in shares of 3M by 25.4% in the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 6,153,924 shares of the conglomerate's stock worth $794,410,000 after acquiring an additional 1,248,093 shares during the last quarter. 65.25% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.