FARMERS & MERCHANTS TRUST Co OF LONG BEACH Decreases Holdings in 3M (NYSE:MMM)

FARMERS & MERCHANTS TRUST Co OF LONG BEACH trimmed its position in shares of 3M (NYSE:MMM) by 10.4% during the first quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 13,055 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after selling 1,511 shares during the quarter. FARMERS & MERCHANTS TRUST Co OF LONG BEACH’s holdings in 3M were worth $1,385,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Tributary Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of 3M during the 1st quarter valued at about $25,000. Financial Synergies Wealth Advisors Inc. increased its stake in 3M by 419.1% in the 1st quarter. Financial Synergies Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 244 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 197 shares during the period. Northwest Investment Counselors LLC purchased a new position in 3M in the 1st quarter worth approximately $32,000. Livelsberger Financial Advisory purchased a new position in 3M in the 4th quarter worth approximately $35,000. Finally, CGC Financial Services LLC increased its stake in 3M by 89.9% in the 4th quarter. CGC Financial Services LLC now owns 338 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $37,000 after purchasing an additional 160 shares during the period. 65.25% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MMM has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Barclays lifted their price target on 3M from $112.00 to $118.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 28th. Wolfe Research raised 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. StockNews.com assumed coverage on 3M in a research note on Thursday, June 6th. They issued a “buy” rating on the stock. Vertical Research raised 3M from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $92.00 to $140.00 in a research note on Thursday, May 16th. Finally, Bank of America raised 3M from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $105.00 to $120.00 in a research note on Friday, June 7th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $111.58.

3M Stock Up 0.5 %

Shares of NYSE MMM traded up $0.55 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $101.16. 598,303 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 5,466,740. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.17, a quick ratio of 1.27 and a current ratio of 1.64. 3M has a 52 week low of $71.12 and a 52 week high of $106.04. The company has a market cap of $55.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -8.00, a PEG ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 0.95. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $99.23 and a 200-day moving average price of $99.22.

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

3M Cuts Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 12th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 24th were issued a dividend of $0.70 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, May 23rd. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.77%. 3M’s payout ratio is presently -22.01%.

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.