3M (NYSE:MMM) Reaches New 1-Year High on Analyst Upgrade

3M Company (NYSE:MMM - Get Free Report) shares reached a new 52-week high during trading on Wednesday after Barclays raised their price target on the stock from $164.00 to $170.00. Barclays currently has an overweight rating on the stock. 3M traded as high as $156.65 and last traded at $155.97, with a volume of 1416387 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $153.74.

A number of other analysts have also recently issued reports on the company. Royal Bank Of Canada upped their target price on 3M from $98.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an "underperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Citigroup upped their target price on 3M from $141.00 to $160.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, May 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on 3M from $140.00 to $167.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, May 16th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on 3M from $150.00 to $170.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 1st. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a "hold (c+)" rating on shares of 3M in a report on Friday, June 27th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $156.33.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Zoe L. Dickson sold 7,915 shares of the stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the executive vice president owned 6,127 shares of the company's stock, valued at $913,045.54. This trade represents a 56.37% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP John Patrick Banovetz sold 7,759 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, May 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $148.37, for a total value 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 position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.34% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of 3M

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Brighton Jones LLC grew its holdings in 3M by 26.6% in the 4th 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. Proficio Capital Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of 3M in the 4th quarter valued at about $26,000. Assetmark Inc. lifted its stake in shares of 3M by 80.2% in the 4th quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 1,173 shares of the conglomerate's stock valued at $151,000 after purchasing an additional 522 shares in the last quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank lifted its stake in shares of 3M by 2.9% in the 4th quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 430,508 shares of the conglomerate's stock valued at $55,574,000 after purchasing an additional 12,075 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Daiwa Securities Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of 3M by 1.6% in the 4th quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 152,183 shares of the conglomerate's stock valued at $19,646,000 after purchasing an additional 2,377 shares in the last quarter. 65.25% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

3M Stock Up 1.5%

The firm has a market capitalization of $83.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.70, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.00 and a beta of 1.02. The company has a current ratio of 1.66, a quick ratio of 1.25 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.72. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $147.56 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $144.12.

3M (NYSE:MMM - Get Free Report) last released 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.78 billion. 3M had a return on equity of 96.19% and a net margin of 17.79%. On average, equities analysts expect that 3M Company will post 7.8 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

3M Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.87%. 3M's payout ratio is currently 36.87%.

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.