Royal Bank of Canada Has Lowered Expectations for 3M (NYSE:MMM) Stock Price

3M (NYSE:MMM) had its price objective dropped by equities researchers at Royal Bank of Canada from $100.00 to $96.00 in a research note issued on Friday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has an “underperform” rating on the conglomerate’s stock. Royal Bank of Canada’s target price would indicate a potential downside of 26.08% from the stock’s previous close.

Several other research firms have also recently weighed in on MMM. Melius raised shares of 3M from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on 3M from $130.00 to $140.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, October 7th. Morgan Stanley initiated coverage on 3M in a research report on Friday, September 6th. They issued an “underweight” rating and a $125.00 target price on the stock. Bank of America raised their price target on 3M from $143.00 to $160.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, Melius Research raised 3M from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $180.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $144.60.

3M Price Performance

Shares of 3M stock opened at $129.87 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $70.72 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.40, a PEG ratio of 2.15 and a beta of 0.95. The company has a quick ratio of 1.08, a current ratio of 1.43 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.41. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $130.12 and its 200-day simple moving average is $125.24. 3M has a 52 week low of $75.40 and a 52 week high of $141.34.

3M (NYSE:MMM) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The conglomerate reported $1.98 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.93 by $0.05. 3M had a return on equity of 104.66% and a net margin of 15.37%. The company had revenue of $6.29 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.06 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $2.68 EPS. The firm’s revenue was down 24.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts expect that 3M will post 7.27 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of MMM. State Street Corp increased its stake in 3M by 1.1% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 27,194,612 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $3,717,503,000 after buying an additional 302,900 shares during the period. FMR LLC grew its stake 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 acquiring an additional 4,212,409 shares in the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. increased its position in shares of 3M by 2.0% during the second quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 4,952,878 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $506,135,000 after acquiring an additional 97,340 shares during the period. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC increased its position in shares of 3M by 1.2% during the third quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 3,815,625 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $521,596,000 after acquiring an additional 43,942 shares during the period. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of 3M by 18.6% during the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 2,531,422 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $258,686,000 after acquiring an additional 396,773 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 65.25% of the company’s stock.

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.