3M (NYSE:MMM) Rating Increased to Buy at Argus

Argus upgraded shares of 3M (NYSE:MMM) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research report sent to investors on Tuesday morning, Marketbeat reports. The brokerage currently has $145.00 target price on the conglomerate’s stock.

A number of other brokerages have also issued reports on MMM. Bank of America raised their price objective on shares of 3M from $120.00 to $143.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a report on Monday, July 29th. StockNews.com lowered shares of 3M from a buy rating to a hold rating in a report on Monday, July 29th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of 3M from $100.00 to $110.00 and gave the company an equal weight rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 10th. Vertical Research raised shares of 3M from a hold rating to a buy rating and increased their target price for the company from $92.00 to $140.00 in a research report on Thursday, May 16th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price on shares of 3M from $93.00 to $95.00 and gave the company an underperform rating in a research report on Monday, July 29th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus price target of $123.57.

3M Stock Down 1.0 %

MMM stock opened at $125.21 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $68.78 billion, a P/E ratio of -9.84, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 0.95. The company has a current ratio of 1.36, a quick ratio of 1.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.95. 3M has a 12 month low of $71.12 and a 12 month high of $128.65. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $104.49 and a 200-day moving average price of $99.45.

3M (NYSE:MMM) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, July 26th. The conglomerate reported $1.93 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.68 by $0.25. The business had revenue of $6.26 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.85 billion. 3M had a net margin of 3.08% and a return on equity of 112.92%. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $2.17 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that 3M will post 7.21 EPS for the current fiscal year.

3M Cuts Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 12th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 24th were given a dividend of $0.70 per share. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.24%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, May 23rd. 3M’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is -22.01%.

Institutional Trading of 3M

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in 3M by 0.8% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 49,461,361 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $5,246,367,000 after purchasing an additional 377,703 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position in 3M by 0.4% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 12,080,578 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $1,320,649,000 after purchasing an additional 43,732 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its position in 3M by 11.8% in the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 5,065,242 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $517,617,000 after purchasing an additional 533,520 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in 3M in the 4th quarter valued at $502,585,000. Finally, Balyasny Asset Management L.P. grew its position in 3M by 313.8% in the 4th quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 2,650,961 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $289,803,000 after purchasing an additional 2,010,319 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 65.25% of the company’s stock.

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.