3M Sees Unusually Large Options Volume (NYSE:MMM)

3M (NYSE:MMM) was the recipient of some unusual options trading activity on Tuesday. Stock traders acquired 24,151 call options on the company. This represents an increase of 65% compared to the typical daily volume of 14,629 call options.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of MMM. CVA Family Office LLC grew its holdings in shares of 3M by 1.9% during the third quarter. CVA Family Office LLC now owns 4,174 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $571,000 after buying an additional 79 shares in the last quarter. Harbour Investments Inc. boosted its position in shares of 3M by 0.8% during the 3rd quarter. Harbour Investments Inc. now owns 10,559 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $1,443,000 after purchasing an additional 81 shares during the period. KMG Fiduciary Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of 3M by 0.5% during the third quarter. KMG Fiduciary Partners LLC now owns 16,186 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $2,213,000 after buying an additional 84 shares during the period. TCV Trust & Wealth Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of 3M by 1.3% in the 3rd quarter. TCV Trust & Wealth Management Inc. now owns 6,464 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $884,000 after buying an additional 84 shares during the period. Finally, Weatherly Asset Management L. P. lifted its stake in 3M by 3.3% during the 3rd quarter. Weatherly Asset Management L. P. now owns 2,730 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $373,000 after acquiring an additional 86 shares in the last quarter. 65.25% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

3M Stock Up 1.2 %

3M stock opened at $134.34 on Thursday. 3M has a twelve month low of $75.40 and a twelve month high of $141.34. The business has a fifty day moving average of $130.32 and a two-hundred day moving average of $126.05. The firm has a market cap of $73.16 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.96, a P/E/G ratio of 2.15 and a beta of 0.95. The company has a quick ratio of 1.08, a current ratio of 1.43 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.41.

3M (NYSE:MMM) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The conglomerate reported $1.98 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.93 by $0.05. 3M had a return on equity of 104.66% and a net margin of 15.37%. The company had revenue of $6.29 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.06 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $2.68 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 24.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts forecast that 3M will post 7.27 earnings per share 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 issued a $0.70 dividend. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.08%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 15th. 3M’s payout ratio is 35.35%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on MMM. Melius Research upgraded 3M from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $180.00 price target for the company in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Royal Bank of Canada cut their price objective on shares of 3M from $100.00 to $96.00 and set an “underperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. Mizuho upped their target price on shares of 3M from $105.00 to $146.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Bank of America boosted their price target on shares of 3M from $143.00 to $160.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, UBS Group upgraded 3M from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $130.00 to $184.00 in a research report on Wednesday, November 13th. 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. According to MarketBeat.com, 3M presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $144.33.

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.