3M (NYSE:MMM) Raised to “Strong-Buy” at StockNews.com

3M (NYSE:MMM) was upgraded by research analysts at StockNews.com from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report issued on Thursday.

MMM has been the subject of a number of other research reports. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on shares of 3M from $112.00 to $105.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, January 24th. Citigroup boosted their price target on shares of 3M from $95.31 to $98.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, April 8th. Barclays cut their price target on shares of 3M from $126.00 to $107.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 2nd. Mizuho reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $105.00 price target on shares of 3M in a research note on Wednesday, March 27th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada cut their price target on shares of 3M from $84.00 to $78.00 and set an “underperform” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 2nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating, one has assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $104.00.

3M Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:MMM opened at $91.80 on Thursday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $95.71 and a 200 day moving average of $97.37. The stock has a market cap of $50.80 billion, a P/E ratio of -7.27, a P/E/G ratio of 1.82 and a beta of 1.02. 3M has a 12 month low of $71.12 and a 12 month high of $95.67. The company has a current ratio of 1.07, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.69.

3M (NYSE:MMM) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 23rd. The conglomerate reported $2.42 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.31 by $0.11. 3M had a negative net margin of 21.40% and a positive return on equity of 62.45%. The company had revenue of $8.01 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.69 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $2.28 earnings per share. 3M’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that 3M will post 7.87 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at 3M

In other 3M news, insider Rodriguez Beatriz Karin Chavez sold 426 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $92.32, for a total transaction of $39,328.32. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 3,966 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $366,141.12. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 0.34% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On 3M

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of 3M by 0.7% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 49,033,679 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $4,590,533,000 after purchasing an additional 317,483 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of 3M by 0.4% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 12,080,578 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $1,320,649,000 after purchasing an additional 43,732 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of 3M in the 4th quarter worth about $502,585,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its position in shares of 3M by 10.6% in the 1st quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 4,531,722 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $480,680,000 after purchasing an additional 435,439 shares during the period. Finally, Invesco Ltd. lifted its position in shares of 3M by 2.4% in the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 4,082,950 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $382,246,000 after purchasing an additional 94,864 shares during the period. 65.25% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.