3M (NYSE:MMM) was the target of unusually large options trading on Tuesday. Stock traders acquired 16,612 call options on the stock. This represents an increase of approximately 60% compared to the typical volume of 10,382 call options.
A number of research firms recently issued reports on MMM. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of 3M from $159.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 7th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “hold” rating on shares of 3M in a research note on Sunday. Zacks Investment Research downgraded shares of 3M from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $174.00 price target for the company. in a research note on Tuesday, January 19th. TheStreet upgraded shares of 3M from a “c+” rating to a “b” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 27th. Finally, Gordon Haskett upgraded shares of 3M from an “underperform” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $170.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Wednesday, October 7th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. The company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $172.33.
Shares of NYSE:MMM traded up $4.62 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $175.01. 57,572 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,233,291. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $171.66 and a two-hundred day moving average of $166.19. 3M has a 52-week low of $114.04 and a 52-week high of $180.59. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.54, a quick ratio of 1.37 and a current ratio of 1.90. The stock has a market cap of $100.95 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.98, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.85 and a beta of 0.92.
3M (NYSE:MMM) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 26th. The conglomerate reported $2.38 EPS for the quarter, beating the Zacks’ consensus estimate of $2.15 by $0.23. 3M had a net margin of 15.65% and a return on equity of 44.77%. The firm had revenue of $8.58 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.39 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $2.15 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.8% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts expect that 3M will post 8.56 earnings per share for the current year.
In related news, EVP Khandpur K. Ashish sold 5,760 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $176.44, for a total transaction of $1,016,294.40. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 21,719 shares in the company, valued at $3,832,100.36. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, SVP Ivan K. Fong sold 15,073 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $172.62, for a total transaction of $2,601,901.26. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 47,886 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,266,081.32. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 27,052 shares of company stock valued at $4,688,423. Company insiders own 0.42% of the company’s stock.
A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Harel Insurance Investments & Financial Services Ltd. boosted its holdings in 3M by 28.7% in the fourth quarter. Harel Insurance Investments & Financial Services Ltd. now owns 3,525 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $1,972,000 after purchasing an additional 787 shares during the last quarter. Landsberg Bennett & Dubbaneh LLC purchased a new stake in 3M in the fourth quarter worth approximately $207,000. Pinnacle Associates Ltd. boosted its holdings in 3M by 10.3% in the fourth quarter. Pinnacle Associates Ltd. now owns 58,565 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $10,237,000 after purchasing an additional 5,458 shares during the last quarter. Lathrop Investment Management Corp purchased a new stake in 3M in the fourth quarter worth approximately $229,000. Finally, Heritage Way Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in 3M by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. Heritage Way Advisors LLC now owns 15,234 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $2,663,000 after purchasing an additional 70 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 64.68% of the company’s stock.
About 3M
3M Company develops, manufactures, and markets various products worldwide. It operates through four business segments: Safety and Industrial, Transportation and Electronics, Health Care, and Consumer. The Safety and Industrial segment offers personal safety products, industrial adhesives and tapes, abrasives, closure and masking systems, electrical markets, automotive aftermarket, and roofing granules to industrial, electrical, and safety markets.
Read More: price to Earnings Ratio (PE) Basics
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