3M (NYSE:MMM) Hits New 12-Month High – Here’s What Happened

3M (NYSE:MMM) hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Friday . The company traded as high as $155.50 and last traded at $154.00, with a volume of 4572609 shares. The stock had previously closed at $150.52.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MMM has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company raised 3M from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $140.00 to $170.00 in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. UBS Group raised 3M from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $130.00 to $184.00 in a report on Wednesday, November 13th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of 3M in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on 3M from $162.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Finally, Citigroup lifted their target price on 3M from $142.00 to $152.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $148.87.

3M Price Performance

The stock has a market cap of $84.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.56, a PEG ratio of 3.30 and a beta of 0.96. The company has a 50-day moving average of $142.73 and a 200-day moving average of $135.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.86, a quick ratio of 1.08 and a current ratio of 1.41.

3M (NYSE:MMM) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, January 21st. The conglomerate reported $1.68 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.66 by $0.02. 3M had a return on equity of 100.77% and a net margin of 15.71%. The company had revenue of $6.01 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.77 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $2.42 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 25.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts predict that 3M will post 7.8 earnings per share for the current year.

3M Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 12th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 14th will be issued a dividend of $0.73 per share. This represents a $2.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.88%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 14th. This is a boost from 3M’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.70. 3M’s dividend payout ratio is 38.68%.

Insider Transactions at 3M

In other news, insider Christian T. Goralski, Jr. sold 6,318 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, January 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $149.43, for a total transaction of $944,098.74. Following the sale, the insider now owns 5,024 shares in the company, valued at $750,736.32. This trade represents a 55.70 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Chairman Michael F. Roman sold 49,598 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $152.30, for a total value of $7,553,775.40. Following the sale, the chairman now owns 180,895 shares in the company, valued at $27,550,308.50. This trade represents a 21.52 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 113,639 shares of company stock worth $17,163,446 over the last quarter. 0.34% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On 3M

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in MMM. D.A. Davidson & CO. raised its position in shares of 3M by 16.2% in the 3rd quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. now owns 146,333 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $20,004,000 after buying an additional 20,421 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its position in shares of 3M by 26.8% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 845,401 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $114,770,000 after buying an additional 178,450 shares during the period. Meyer Handelman Co. raised its position in shares of 3M by 1.4% in the 4th quarter. Meyer Handelman Co. now owns 197,618 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $25,511,000 after buying an additional 2,678 shares during the period. FMR LLC raised its position in shares of 3M by 88.7% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 8,961,866 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $1,225,087,000 after buying an additional 4,212,409 shares during the period. Finally, USA Financial Formulas purchased a new position in shares of 3M in the 4th quarter worth $816,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.