3M Sees Unusually Large Options Volume (NYSE:MMM)

3M Company (NYSE:MMM) saw unusually large options trading on Wednesday. Traders acquired 14,700 call options on the stock. This represents an increase of approximately 66% compared to the average daily volume of 8,881 call options.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On 3M

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in MMM. Wealth Group Ltd grew its position in shares of 3M by 50.8% in the 2nd quarter. Wealth Group Ltd now owns 7,077 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $1,146,000 after buying an additional 2,383 shares during the last quarter. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of 3M by 11.6% during the second quarter. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC now owns 7,815 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $1,265,000 after acquiring an additional 814 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its stake in 3M by 3.7% in the second quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 18,770 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $3,039,000 after acquiring an additional 661 shares during the period. Canandaigua National Bank & Trust Co. purchased a new stake in 3M in the second quarter worth $2,146,000. Finally, CoreCap Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in 3M by 2.7% in the second quarter. CoreCap Advisors LLC now owns 14,317 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $2,318,000 after acquiring an additional 382 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 65.25% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. HSBC lifted their price objective on shares of 3M from $175.00 to $185.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 22nd. Sanford C. Bernstein started coverage on 3M in a report on Tuesday, June 9th. They issued an “underperform” rating and a $131.00 price target for the company. Royal Bank Of Canada reduced their price target on 3M from $134.00 to $133.00 and set an “underperform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Barclays dropped their price objective on 3M from $190.00 to $185.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 1st. Finally, Wolfe Research reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of 3M in a report on Thursday, July 9th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have assigned a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $170.00.

3M Price Performance

Shares of MMM stock traded up $2.50 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $159.07. The company had a trading volume of 1,354,388 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,920,533. The company has a quick ratio of 1.19, a current ratio of 1.59 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.29. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $155.14 and its two-hundred day moving average is $156.12. The stock has a market capitalization of $82.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.65, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.22 and a beta of 1.02. 3M has a 52 week low of $139.34 and a 52 week high of $177.41.

3M (NYSE:MMM) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 21st. The conglomerate reported $2.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.98 by $0.16. The firm had revenue of $6 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.04 billion. 3M had a return on equity of 104.75% and a net margin of 11.14%.The company’s revenue was up 1.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.88 earnings per share. 3M has set its FY 2026 guidance at 8.500-8.700 EPS. As a group, analysts predict that 3M will post 8.74 EPS for the current fiscal year.

3M Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 12th. Investors of record on Friday, May 22nd were issued a dividend of $0.78 per share. This represents a $3.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.0%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 22nd. 3M’s dividend payout ratio is currently 60.12%.

About 3M

3M Company, originally founded in 1902 as the Minnesota Mining and Manufacturing Company, is a diversified global technology and manufacturing firm headquartered in St. Paul, Minnesota. Over its history the company has expanded from mineral mining into a broad portfolio of industrial, safety, healthcare and consumer products, building a reputation for applied science and product innovation across many end markets.

3M’s businesses span a wide range of product categories including adhesives and tapes, abrasives, filtration and separation technologies, personal protective equipment such as respirators, medical and dental products, industrial and automotive solutions, and a suite of consumer brands (for example, well-known office and home products).