&Partners Purchases 641 Shares of 3M (NYSE:MMM)

&Partners raised its position in shares of 3M (NYSE:MMM) by 9.8% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 7,202 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after purchasing an additional 641 shares during the period. &Partners’ holdings in 3M were worth $764,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Shoker Investment Counsel Inc. raised its position in shares of 3M by 49.7% in the 3rd quarter. Shoker Investment Counsel Inc. now owns 16,747 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $1,568,000 after acquiring an additional 5,561 shares in the last quarter. Jade Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new position in 3M during the 4th quarter worth $4,373,000. MWA Asset Management purchased a new position in 3M during the 4th quarter worth $1,723,000. Scarborough Advisors LLC purchased a new position in 3M during the 4th quarter worth $978,000. Finally, Diversified Trust Co grew its stake in 3M by 1.4% during the 4th quarter. Diversified Trust Co now owns 18,487 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $2,021,000 after buying an additional 263 shares during the last quarter. 65.25% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MMM has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Bank of America upgraded 3M from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $105.00 to $120.00 in a research note on Friday, June 7th. Wolfe Research upgraded 3M from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $125.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Thursday, June 13th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target on 3M from $78.00 to $87.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 1st. Vertical Research upgraded 3M from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $92.00 to $140.00 in a research note on Thursday, May 16th. Finally, UBS Group boosted their price target on 3M from $98.00 to $100.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 1st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, 3M presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $111.58.

3M Stock Performance

Shares of MMM stock opened at $102.39 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $56.66 billion, a PE ratio of -8.05, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.91 and a beta of 0.96. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $98.13 and a 200-day simple moving average of $99.26. The company has a quick ratio of 1.27, a current ratio of 1.64 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.17. 3M has a 52-week low of $71.12 and a 52-week high of $106.04.

3M (NYSE:MMM) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 30th. The conglomerate reported $2.39 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 prior year, the firm posted $1.97 EPS. On average, equities analysts expect that 3M will post 7.09 EPS for the current year.

3M Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 12th. Investors 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 yield of 2.73%. 3M’s payout ratio is -22.01%.

3M 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.