Grove Bank & Trust Buys 105 Shares of 3M (NYSE:MMM)

Grove Bank & Trust increased its stake in shares of 3M (NYSE:MMM) by 6.6% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 1,686 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after acquiring an additional 105 shares during the quarter. Grove Bank & Trust’s holdings in 3M were worth $218,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in shares of 3M by 1.1% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 27,194,612 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $3,717,503,000 after purchasing an additional 302,900 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC boosted its stake in 3M by 88.7% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 8,961,866 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $1,225,087,000 after buying an additional 4,212,409 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC grew its holdings in 3M by 1.2% during the 3rd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 3,815,625 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $521,596,000 after buying an additional 43,942 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its stake in 3M by 18.6% in the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 2,531,422 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $258,686,000 after acquiring an additional 396,773 shares during the last quarter. Finally, National Pension Service increased its stake in 3M by 14.5% in the 3rd quarter. National Pension Service now owns 1,268,003 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $173,336,000 after acquiring an additional 161,036 shares during the last quarter. 65.25% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

3M Price Performance

3M stock opened at $141.02 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.41, a current ratio of 1.43 and a quick ratio of 1.08. The stock has a market cap of $76.80 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.81, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.01 and a beta of 0.95. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $131.24 and a two-hundred day moving average of $127.74. 3M has a 1 year low of $75.40 and a 1 year high of $141.66.

3M (NYSE:MMM) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The conglomerate reported $1.98 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.93 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $6.29 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.06 billion. 3M had a return on equity of 104.66% and a net margin of 15.37%. 3M’s quarterly revenue was down 24.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $2.68 earnings per share. On average, research analysts forecast that 3M will post 7.27 earnings per share for the current year.

3M Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, December 12th. Investors of record on Friday, November 15th were issued a $0.70 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 15th. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.99%. 3M’s payout ratio is currently 35.35%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently weighed in on MMM. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of 3M in a report on Saturday. UBS Group raised shares of 3M from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $130.00 to $184.00 in a research note on Wednesday, November 13th. Melius upgraded shares of 3M from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price objective on 3M from $100.00 to $96.00 and set an “underperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. Finally, 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 note on Monday, October 7th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $144.13.

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.