3M (NYSE:MMM) Stock Price Down 1.1%

3M (NYSE:MMM) dropped 1.1% during trading on Tuesday . The company traded as low as $90.17 and last traded at $90.34. Approximately 681,395 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 89% from the average daily volume of 5,938,007 shares. The stock had previously closed at $91.30.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Citigroup increased their price objective on shares of 3M from $95.31 to $98.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, April 8th. Bank of America lowered their price objective on shares of 3M from $110.00 to $100.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 2nd. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their price objective on shares of 3M from $84.00 to $78.00 and set an “underperform” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 2nd. StockNews.com began coverage on shares of 3M in a research report on Thursday, April 4th. They issued a “buy” rating for the company. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on shares of 3M from $112.00 to $105.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 24th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $103.50.

3M Stock Performance

The stock has a market cap of $50.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -7.19, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.61 and a beta of 1.02. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $95.92 and its 200-day simple moving average is $97.32. The company has a quick ratio of 0.76, a current ratio of 1.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.69.

3M (NYSE:MMM) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, January 23rd. The conglomerate reported $2.42 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.31 by $0.11. 3M had a negative net margin of 21.40% and a positive return on equity of 62.45%. The company had revenue of $8.01 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.69 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.28 EPS. The company’s revenue was down 1.1% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts predict that 3M will post 8.79 EPS for the current fiscal year.

3M Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 12th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 16th were paid a dividend of $1.51 per share. This is an increase from 3M’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.50. This represents a $6.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.62%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 15th. 3M’s payout ratio is -47.82%.

Insider Buying and Selling at 3M

In other news, insider Rodriguez Beatriz Karin Chavez sold 426 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $92.32, for a total transaction of $39,328.32. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 3,966 shares in the company, valued at approximately $366,141.12. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.38% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On 3M

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of MMM. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS boosted its holdings in 3M by 15.4% during the third quarter. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS now owns 110,988 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $10,391,000 after acquiring an additional 14,775 shares during the period. Cornerstone Wealth Group LLC bought a new stake in 3M during the third quarter valued at about $3,855,000. Shoker Investment Counsel Inc. boosted its holdings in 3M by 49.7% during the third quarter. Shoker Investment Counsel Inc. now owns 16,747 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $1,568,000 after acquiring an additional 5,561 shares during the period. Diversified Trust Co boosted its holdings in 3M by 1.4% during the fourth quarter. Diversified Trust Co now owns 18,487 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $2,021,000 after acquiring an additional 263 shares during the period. Finally, MWA Asset Management bought a new stake in 3M during the fourth quarter valued at about $1,723,000. 65.25% of the stock is currently owned by 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.