3M (NYSE:MMM) Trading Down 4% – Here’s What Happened

3M (NYSE:MMM) dropped 4% during mid-day trading on Tuesday . The company traded as low as $147.31 and last traded at $147.33. Approximately 2,089,940 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 51% from the average daily volume of 4,304,441 shares. The stock had previously closed at $153.42.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently commented on MMM. Bank of America increased their price target on 3M from $160.00 to $175.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company raised shares of 3M from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $140.00 to $170.00 in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of 3M from $161.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of 3M from $162.00 to $165.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “underperform” rating and issued a $96.00 target price on shares of 3M in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $148.87.

3M Price Performance

The firm has a market capitalization of $79.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.31, a PEG ratio of 3.30 and a beta of 0.96. The company has a current ratio of 1.41, a quick ratio of 1.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.86. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $143.22 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $135.74.

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

3M Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 12th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 14th will be given a $0.73 dividend. This is a boost from 3M’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.70. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 14th. This represents a $2.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.00%. 3M’s dividend payout ratio is 38.68%.

Insider Activity

In other news, 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 transaction of $7,553,775.40. Following the transaction, the chairman now directly owns 180,895 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $27,550,308.50. This trade represents a 21.52 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Victoria Clarke sold 1,750 shares of 3M stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $154.22, for a total transaction of $269,885.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 194 shares in the company, valued at approximately $29,918.68. This represents a 90.02 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 113,639 shares of company stock valued at $17,163,446. Insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On 3M

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. State Street Corp boosted 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 acquiring an additional 302,900 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of 3M by 2.5% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 11,574,414 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $1,493,655,000 after purchasing an additional 280,048 shares during the period. FMR LLC increased its position 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. Northern Trust Corp raised its stake in shares of 3M by 12.6% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 6,752,944 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $871,738,000 after buying an additional 755,155 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Capital World Investors lifted its holdings in shares of 3M by 25.4% in the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 6,153,924 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $794,410,000 after buying an additional 1,248,093 shares during the period. 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.