3M (NYSE:MMM) Stock Gets Price Target Increase from The Goldman Sachs Group

3M (NYSE:MMM) had its price target upped by investment analysts at The Goldman Sachs Group from $200.00 to $225.00 in a research note issued to investors on Thursday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a “buy” rating on the conglomerate’s stock. The Goldman Sachs Group‘s target price suggests a potential upside of 21.47% from the company’s previous close.

MMM has been the topic of several other reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft restated a “hold” rating on shares of 3M in a report on Wednesday, October 21st. Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their target price on shares of 3M from $132.00 to $135.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 21st. Wolfe Research reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of 3M in a research report on Thursday, July 9th. Raymond James Financial restated a “market perform” rating on shares of 3M in a research note on Wednesday, October 21st. Finally, UBS Group set a $230.00 price target on 3M in a research report on Wednesday. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have assigned a Buy rating, eight have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $190.07.

3M Trading Down 1.4%

MMM traded down $2.54 on Thursday, hitting $185.23. The company had a trading volume of 3,370,294 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,459,884. The firm has a market cap of $95.71 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.60, a PEG ratio of 2.32 and a beta of 1.01. 3M has a 1 year low of $139.34 and a 1 year high of $196.90. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $168.96 and its 200 day moving average price is $161.79. The company has a current ratio of 1.41, a quick ratio of 1.06 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.01.

3M (NYSE:MMM) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, October 20th. The conglomerate reported $2.50 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.38 by $0.12. The company had revenue of $6.60 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.61 billion. 3M had a net margin of 14.01% and a return on equity of 123.11%. 3M’s revenue was up 1.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $2.19 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts expect that 3M will post 9.14 earnings per share for the current year.

3M declared that its board has approved a stock buyback program on Wednesday, November 4th that allows the company to repurchase $6 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the conglomerate to buy up to 6.6% of its shares through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are typically an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Institutional Trading of 3M

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of MMM. Amundi grew its stake in 3M by 67.0% during the 2nd quarter. Amundi now owns 4,536,148 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $734,448,000 after purchasing an additional 1,819,178 shares in the last quarter. Ascentis Wealth Management LLC raised its position in 3M by 22,972.5% in the 2nd quarter. Ascentis Wealth Management LLC now owns 347,472 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $56,259,000 after purchasing an additional 345,966 shares in the last quarter. Nippon Life Global Investors Americas Inc. purchased a new position in shares of 3M in the 3rd quarter valued at about $56,678,000. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC boosted its stake in shares of 3M by 7.4% in the 2nd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 3,935,534 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $637,202,000 after buying an additional 270,458 shares during the period. Finally, Calamos Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of 3M by 332.2% during the third quarter. Calamos Advisors LLC now owns 303,723 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $49,856,000 after buying an additional 233,451 shares in the last quarter. 65.25% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About 3M

3M is a diversified science and manufacturing company that develops products for businesses and consumers. Its offerings include workplace safety equipment, adhesives and abrasives, filtration materials, automotive and electronics components, and home and office products such as Post-it Notes and Scotch brand tapes.

Founded in 1902 as the Minnesota Mining and Manufacturing Company, 3M began as a mining venture before expanding into materials science and industrial manufacturing. The company adopted the name 3M in 2002 and is headquartered in St.