3M (NYSE:MMM) Trading Up 5.2%

3M (NYSE:MMM) shot up 5.2% on Tuesday . The stock traded as high as $97.84 and last traded at $96.91. 6,557,447 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, an increase of 15% from the average session volume of 5,720,757 shares. The stock had previously closed at $92.16.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have recently commented on MMM shares. Bank of America lowered their target price on 3M from $110.00 to $100.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 2nd. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their price objective on 3M from $84.00 to $78.00 and set an “underperform” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on 3M from $112.00 to $105.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 24th. StockNews.com raised shares of 3M from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 25th. Finally, Barclays reduced their price target on shares of 3M from $126.00 to $107.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 2nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating, one has assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $104.00.

3M Stock Performance

The company has a current ratio of 1.07, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.69. The business’s 50 day moving average is $95.73 and its two-hundred day moving average is $97.49. The company has a market cap of $53.40 billion, a PE ratio of -7.67, a PEG ratio of 1.74 and a beta of 1.02.

3M Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 12th. Investors of record on Friday, February 16th were paid a dividend of $1.51 per share. This is a boost from 3M’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.50. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 15th. This represents a $6.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.26%. 3M’s payout ratio is -47.82%.

Insider Activity at 3M

In other 3M news, insider Rodriguez Beatriz Karin Chavez sold 426 shares of 3M stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $92.32, for a total value of $39,328.32. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 3,966 shares in the company, valued at approximately $366,141.12. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.38% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of 3M

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of MMM. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in 3M by 0.7% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 49,033,679 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $4,590,533,000 after purchasing an additional 317,483 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in 3M by 0.4% during 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 last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in 3M during the 4th quarter valued at about $502,585,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its holdings in 3M by 10.6% during the 1st quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 4,531,722 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $480,680,000 after purchasing an additional 435,439 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. grew its holdings in 3M by 2.4% during the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 4,082,950 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $382,246,000 after purchasing an additional 94,864 shares during the last quarter. 65.25% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.