3M Stock Flat Despite New COVID-19 Test Partnership

The shares of 3M Co (NYSE:MMM) are flat this morning, trading at $154.59 even after the industrial conglomerate announced a partnership with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) to develop a rapid antigen test for COVID-19. The test would produce results within minutes, and could be administered on a low-cost, paper-based device, similar to a home pregnancy test.

3M stock hasn't fully recovered from its mid-March six-year lows near the $114 level yet, having traded sideways the last two months. The security rallied to a $169.54 peak on June 8, but was turned away by its 320-day moving average. Longer term, MMM is down 12.2% year-to-date.

Analysts were hesitant toward the equity coming into today. Of the 10 in coverage, eight carry a tepid "hold" recommendation, while the remaining two call it a "strong buy." Meanwhile, the 12-month consensus target price of $157.67 is a 1.8% premium to current levels.

Lastly, it looks as if calls are more than doubling up puts in the options pits. In the past 10 weeks, 34,839 calls were exchanged, as opposed to 12,821 puts. What's more, MMM's Schaeffer's open interest ratio (SOIR) of 0.72 stands higher than just 26% of readings from the past year, implying short-term options traders have been more call-biased than usual as of late.