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

3M (NYSE:MMM) had its price objective upped by Barclays from $161.00 to $165.00 in a report released on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. Barclays currently has an overweight rating on the conglomerate’s stock.

Several other research firms also recently commented on MMM. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of 3M in a research report on Saturday, January 18th. Melius Research upgraded shares of 3M from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $180.00 price objective for the company in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Royal Bank of Canada cut their target price on shares of 3M from $100.00 to $96.00 and set an “underperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. Citigroup upped their price target on shares of 3M from $142.00 to $152.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on shares of 3M from $165.00 to $162.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, January 15th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $148.87.

3M Stock Up 1.5 %

MMM stock opened at $149.14 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $81.21 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.83, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.30 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. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $131.73 and a 200-day moving average price of $128.53. 3M has a 12 month low of $75.40 and a 12 month high of $152.08.

3M (NYSE:MMM) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, January 21st. The conglomerate reported $1.68 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.66 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $6.01 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5,770,390 billion. 3M had a net margin of 15.37% and a return on equity of 104.66%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 25.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $2.42 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that 3M will post 7.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

3M Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, December 12th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 15th were paid a $0.70 dividend. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.88%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 15th. 3M’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 35.35%.

Institutional Trading of 3M

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of MMM. D.A. Davidson & CO. boosted its stake in 3M by 16.2% during the third quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. now owns 146,333 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $20,004,000 after acquiring an additional 20,421 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its holdings in shares of 3M by 26.8% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 845,401 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $114,770,000 after purchasing an additional 178,450 shares during the period. Meyer Handelman Co. boosted its position in shares of 3M by 1.4% during the 4th quarter. Meyer Handelman Co. now owns 197,618 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $25,511,000 after purchasing an additional 2,678 shares in the last quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of 3M by 40.1% in the 3rd quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC now owns 18,217 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $2,490,000 after buying an additional 5,210 shares during the period. Finally, Stonegate Investment Group LLC increased its position in 3M by 5.6% in the 3rd quarter. Stonegate Investment Group LLC now owns 252,847 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $34,564,000 after buying an additional 13,473 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 65.25% of the company’s stock.

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.