Weiss Ratings Reaffirms Hold (C) Rating for 3M (NYSE:MMM)

3M (NYSE:MMM)‘s stock had its “hold (c)” rating restated by investment analysts at Weiss Ratings in a note issued to investors on Wednesday,Weiss Ratings reports.

Other equities research analysts have also recently issued research reports about the stock. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “underperform” rating and issued a $96.00 price target on shares of 3M in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of 3M from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $140.00 to $170.00 in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. Bank of America boosted their price objective on shares of 3M from $160.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. UBS Group upgraded shares of 3M from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $130.00 to $184.00 in a research note on Wednesday, November 13th. Finally, Melius upgraded shares of 3M from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $148.87.

3M Price Performance

MMM stock opened at $149.08 on Wednesday. 3M has a 12 month low of $75.40 and a 12 month high of $155.00. 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 company has a 50-day moving average price of $140.32 and a 200 day moving average price of $134.41. The stock has a market cap of $80.93 billion, a PE ratio of 19.75, a P/E/G ratio of 3.29 and a beta of 0.96.

3M (NYSE:MMM) last released its quarterly earnings data 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. 3M had a net margin of 15.71% and a return on equity of 100.77%. The company had revenue of $6.01 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.77 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $2.42 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 25.0% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts anticipate that 3M will post 7.8 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at 3M

In other news, EVP Victoria Clarke sold 1,750 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, January 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $154.22, for a total value of $269,885.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 194 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $29,918.68. This represents a 90.02 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CAO Theresa E. Reinseth sold 2,309 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, January 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $149.95, for a total transaction of $346,234.55. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 4,417 shares in the company, valued at $662,329.15. This trade represents a 34.33 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 113,639 shares of company stock worth $17,163,446. 0.34% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of 3M

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in MMM. D.A. Davidson & CO. boosted its holdings 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 buying an additional 20,421 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its holdings in 3M by 26.8% during the third 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 in the last quarter. Meyer Handelman Co. increased its stake in shares of 3M by 1.4% in the 4th quarter. Meyer Handelman Co. now owns 197,618 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $25,511,000 after purchasing an additional 2,678 shares in the last quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC raised its holdings in 3M by 40.1% in the 3rd quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC now owns 18,217 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $2,490,000 after purchasing an additional 5,210 shares during the period. Finally, FMR LLC raised its holdings in 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 purchasing an additional 4,212,409 shares during the period. 65.25% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.