3M (NYSE:MMM) Raised to Buy at UBS Group

UBS Group upgraded shares of 3M (NYSE:MMM) from a neutral rating to a buy rating in a research report report published on Wednesday, Marketbeat.com reports. The firm currently has $184.00 target price on the conglomerate’s stock, up from their previous target price of $130.00.

Several other equities analysts have also weighed in on the stock. Argus upgraded shares of 3M from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $145.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Tuesday, July 30th. Melius raised shares of 3M from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of 3M from $130.00 to $140.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, October 7th. Melius Research upgraded 3M from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $180.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Finally, Morgan Stanley started coverage on 3M in a report on Friday, September 6th. They issued an “underweight” rating and a $125.00 price objective on the stock. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, 3M presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $144.87.

3M Price Performance

MMM traded down $1.82 on Wednesday, reaching $129.79. The company had a trading volume of 1,929,226 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,844,047. The company has a fifty day moving average of $132.80 and a 200-day moving average of $117.87. The company has a market capitalization of $70.68 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.38, a PEG ratio of 2.17 and a beta of 0.95. The company has a current ratio of 1.43, a quick ratio of 1.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.41. 3M has a one year low of $75.40 and a one year high of $141.34.

3M (NYSE:MMM) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 22nd. The conglomerate reported $1.98 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.93 by $0.05. 3M had a net margin of 15.37% and a return on equity of 104.66%. The company had revenue of $6.29 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.06 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $2.68 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 24.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that 3M will post 7.27 earnings per share for the current year.

3M Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 12th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.70 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 15th. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.16%. 3M’s payout ratio is presently 35.35%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in MMM. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of 3M by 0.8% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 49,461,361 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $5,246,367,000 after buying an additional 377,703 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its holdings in shares of 3M by 1.1% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 27,194,612 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $3,717,503,000 after buying an additional 302,900 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC raised its holdings in shares of 3M by 88.7% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 8,961,866 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $1,225,087,000 after buying an additional 4,212,409 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its holdings in shares of 3M by 11.8% in the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 5,065,242 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $517,617,000 after buying an additional 533,520 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Pacer Advisors Inc. increased its position in 3M by 2.0% in the second quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 4,952,878 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $506,135,000 after purchasing an additional 97,340 shares during the period. 65.25% of the stock is 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.