Wolfe Research Issues Positive Forecast for 3M (NYSE:MMM) Stock Price

3M (NYSE:MMM) had its target price upped by Wolfe Research from $196.00 to $205.00 in a report released on Friday,MarketScreener reports. The brokerage currently has an outperform rating on the conglomerate’s stock.

A number of other brokerages also recently issued reports on MMM. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $182.00 target price on shares of 3M in a research note on Friday, January 16th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price objective on shares of 3M from $179.00 to $181.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 21st. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on shares of 3M from $183.00 to $175.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, January 21st. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on shares of 3M from $160.00 to $165.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 21st. Finally, Citigroup reduced their price target on shares of 3M from $181.00 to $175.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 21st. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $176.18.

3M Price Performance

MMM stock traded down $1.42 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $164.75. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 5,367,042 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,884,458. The company has a current ratio of 1.71, a quick ratio of 1.33 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.30. The company’s 50 day moving average is $164.01 and its two-hundred day moving average is $161.81. 3M has a fifty-two week low of $121.98 and a fifty-two week high of $177.41. The stock has a market cap of $86.77 billion, a PE ratio of 27.46, a P/E/G ratio of 2.32 and a beta of 1.09.

3M (NYSE:MMM) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, January 20th. The conglomerate reported $1.83 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.80 by $0.03. 3M had a return on equity of 95.36% and a net margin of 13.03%.The business had revenue of $6 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.03 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.68 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.5% compared to the same quarter last year. 3M has set its FY 2026 guidance at 8.50-8.700 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that 3M will post 7.8 EPS for the current year.

3M Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 12th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 13th will be issued a dividend of $0.78 per share. This is a boost from 3M’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.73. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 13th. This represents a $3.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.9%. 3M’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 52.00%.

Insider Activity at 3M

In other 3M news, CAO Theresa E. Reinseth sold 5,145 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $172.75, for a total value of $888,798.75. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 2,585 shares in the company, valued at $446,558.75. The trade was a 66.56% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 0.34% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of 3M

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. PFA Pension Forsikringsaktieselskab acquired a new position in 3M in the 4th quarter valued at about $65,009,000. SG Americas Securities LLC increased its position in 3M by 806.1% during the 4th quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 314,460 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $50,345,000 after purchasing an additional 279,757 shares during the period. Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC purchased a new position in shares of 3M during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $8,594,000. Handelsbanken Fonder AB lifted its holdings in shares of 3M by 17.0% in the 2nd quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 265,360 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $40,398,000 after buying an additional 38,501 shares during the period. Finally, BLI Banque de Luxembourg Investments acquired a new stake in shares of 3M in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $4,103,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 65.25% of the company’s stock.

About 3M

3M Company, originally founded in 1902 as the Minnesota Mining and Manufacturing Company, is a diversified global technology and manufacturing firm headquartered in St. Paul, Minnesota. Over its history the company has expanded from mineral mining into a broad portfolio of industrial, safety, healthcare and consumer products, building a reputation for applied science and product innovation across many end markets.

3M’s businesses span a wide range of product categories including adhesives and tapes, abrasives, filtration and separation technologies, personal protective equipment such as respirators, medical and dental products, industrial and automotive solutions, and a suite of consumer brands (for example, well-known office and home products).