3M (NYSE:MMM) Trading Down 1.9% - Time to Sell?

3M (NYSE:MMM - Get Free Report) traded down 1.9% during mid-day trading on Thursday . The stock traded as low as $149.42 and last traded at $149.77. 656,440 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 84% from the average session volume of 3,988,310 shares. The stock had previously closed at $152.68.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MMM has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of 3M from $161.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded 3M from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and upped their price objective for the company from $140.00 to $170.00 in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Bank of America lifted their price objective on 3M from $175.00 to $179.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, March 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of 3M from $162.00 to $165.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Finally, Citigroup lifted their price target on shares of 3M from $142.00 to $152.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $149.13.

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3M Price Performance

The company has a market capitalization of $78.58 billion, a PE ratio of 19.17, a PEG ratio of 3.30 and a beta of 0.97. The company has a current ratio of 1.41, a quick ratio of 1.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.86. The company's 50 day moving average price is $149.60 and its 200-day moving average price is $138.23.

3M (NYSE:MMM - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 21st. The conglomerate reported $1.68 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.66 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $6.01 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.77 billion. 3M had a return on equity of 100.77% and a net margin of 15.71%. The firm's quarterly revenue was down 25.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $2.42 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that 3M will post 7.8 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

3M Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 12th. Investors of record on Friday, February 14th were issued a dividend of $0.73 per share. This is a positive change from 3M's previous quarterly dividend of $0.70. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 14th. This represents a $2.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.02%. 3M's payout ratio is presently 38.68%.

Insider Activity at 3M

In other 3M news, insider Christian T. Goralski, Jr. sold 6,318 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $149.43, for a total value of $944,098.74. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 5,024 shares of the company's stock, valued at $750,736.32. This trade represents a 55.70 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Chairman Michael F. Roman sold 45,276 shares of 3M stock in a transaction on Friday, January 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $150.01, for a total transaction of $6,791,852.76. Following the sale, the chairman now directly owns 175,718 shares in the company, valued at $26,359,457.18. This trade represents a 20.49 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 113,639 shares of company stock worth $17,163,446. Corporate insiders own 0.34% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of 3M during the fourth quarter worth approximately $636,767,000. Invesco Ltd. grew its holdings in 3M by 51.6% during the 4th 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 in the last quarter. D1 Capital Partners L.P. bought a new stake in shares of 3M in the 4th quarter worth about $175,110,000. Capital World Investors raised its stake in shares of 3M by 25.4% in the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 6,153,924 shares of the conglomerate's stock valued at $794,410,000 after purchasing an additional 1,248,093 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Amundi lifted its position in shares of 3M by 55.7% during the fourth quarter. Amundi now owns 2,511,095 shares of the conglomerate's stock worth $337,815,000 after purchasing an additional 898,244 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.