Town & Country Bank & Trust CO dba First Bankers Trust CO Boosts Holdings in 3M (NYSE:MMM)

Town & Country Bank & Trust CO dba First Bankers Trust CO lifted its stake in shares of 3M (NYSE:MMM) by 20.0% in the first quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 6,110 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after buying an additional 1,017 shares during the period. Town & Country Bank & Trust CO dba First Bankers Trust CO’s holdings in 3M were worth $648,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Fragasso Group Inc. lifted its holdings in 3M by 3.8% in the third quarter. Fragasso Group Inc. now owns 2,556 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $239,000 after acquiring an additional 93 shares during the period. Bangor Savings Bank grew its position in 3M by 1.0% during the fourth quarter. Bangor Savings Bank now owns 10,489 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $1,147,000 after buying an additional 104 shares during the period. Allen Capital Group LLC increased its holdings in 3M by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. Allen Capital Group LLC now owns 20,931 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $2,288,000 after buying an additional 105 shares in the last quarter. Summit Financial Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of 3M by 3.4% during the 1st quarter. Summit Financial Group Inc. now owns 3,316 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $352,000 after acquiring an additional 110 shares during the period. Finally, Allegheny Financial Group LTD boosted its stake in shares of 3M by 2.3% during the 4th quarter. Allegheny Financial Group LTD now owns 5,032 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $550,000 after acquiring an additional 113 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 65.25% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have weighed in on MMM. Barclays upped their target price on 3M from $112.00 to $118.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 28th. StockNews.com assumed coverage on shares of 3M in a report on Thursday, June 6th. They set a “buy” rating for the company. Vertical Research raised shares of 3M from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price target for the company from $92.00 to $140.00 in a report on Thursday, May 16th. UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of 3M from $98.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 1st. Finally, Bank of America raised 3M from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the company from $105.00 to $120.00 in a research note on Friday, June 7th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $111.58.

3M Stock Performance

Shares of MMM stock traded down $0.98 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $102.19. 6,196,466 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,668,111. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $99.23 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $99.26. 3M has a fifty-two week low of $71.12 and a fifty-two week high of $106.04. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.17, a current ratio of 1.64 and a quick ratio of 1.27.

3M (NYSE:MMM) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 30th. The conglomerate reported $2.39 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.10 by $0.29. The company had revenue of $8 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.64 billion. 3M had a positive return on equity of 95.80% and a negative net margin of 21.57%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.97 EPS. As a group, analysts predict that 3M will post 7.17 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

3M Cuts Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 12th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 24th were issued a $0.70 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, May 23rd. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.74%. 3M’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -22.01%.

About 3M

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.