Stock Traders Purchase High Volume of Call Options on 3M (NYSE:MMM)

3M (NYSE:MMM) saw unusually large options trading on Wednesday. Traders bought 68,674 call options on the company. This is an increase of approximately 345% compared to the average daily volume of 15,449 call options.

3M Stock Up 4.1 %

3M stock opened at $146.86 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.41, a quick ratio of 1.08 and a current ratio of 1.43. The stock has a market cap of $79.98 billion, a PE ratio of 18.54, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.30 and a beta of 0.95. 3M has a fifty-two week low of $75.40 and a fifty-two week high of $150.00. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $131.40 and its 200 day simple moving average is $128.20.

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

3M Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, December 12th. Investors of record on Friday, November 15th were issued a dividend of $0.70 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 15th. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.91%. 3M’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 35.35%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On 3M

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. State Street Corp raised its position 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 purchasing an additional 302,900 shares during the period. FMR LLC raised its stake in shares of 3M by 88.7% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 8,961,866 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $1,225,087,000 after purchasing an additional 4,212,409 shares during the period. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC raised its stake in shares of 3M by 1.2% during the 3rd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 3,815,625 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $521,596,000 after purchasing an additional 43,942 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in 3M by 18.6% during the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 2,531,422 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $258,686,000 after purchasing an additional 396,773 shares in the last quarter. Finally, National Pension Service boosted its stake in 3M by 14.5% in the 3rd quarter. National Pension Service now owns 1,268,003 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $173,336,000 after purchasing an additional 161,036 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 65.25% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MMM has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. UBS Group upgraded shares of 3M from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their target price for the company from $130.00 to $184.00 in a research report on Wednesday, November 13th. Melius raised shares of 3M from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on shares of 3M from $165.00 to $162.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 15th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on 3M from $130.00 to $140.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, October 7th. Finally, Bank of America upped their price target on 3M from $143.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $144.13.

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.