Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. (NYSE:MLM) Position Boosted by Russell Investments Group Ltd.

Russell Investments Group Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. (NYSE:MLM) by 1.7% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 68,683 shares of the construction company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,156 shares during the period. Russell Investments Group Ltd.’s holdings in Martin Marietta Materials were worth $34,251,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of MLM. FMR LLC lifted its holdings in Martin Marietta Materials by 225.3% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,833,959 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $752,803,000 after acquiring an additional 1,270,116 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its holdings in Martin Marietta Materials by 9.7% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 2,042,537 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $838,421,000 after acquiring an additional 181,136 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. lifted its holdings in Martin Marietta Materials by 22.6% in the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 570,193 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $234,053,000 after acquiring an additional 104,981 shares during the last quarter. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd bought a new position in Martin Marietta Materials in the third quarter worth about $34,736,000. Finally, Jennison Associates LLC lifted its holdings in Martin Marietta Materials by 96.6% in the fourth quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 157,904 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $78,780,000 after acquiring an additional 77,596 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 95.04% of the company’s stock.

Martin Marietta Materials Price Performance

NYSE MLM opened at $587.32 on Wednesday. Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. has a 12 month low of $361.23 and a 12 month high of $626.67. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a current ratio of 3.35 and a quick ratio of 2.50. The firm has a market capitalization of $36.25 billion, a PE ratio of 31.19, a P/E/G ratio of 2.91 and a beta of 0.96. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $595.70 and its 200 day simple moving average is $519.51.

Martin Marietta Materials (NYSE:MLM) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 14th. The construction company reported $4.63 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.96 by $0.67. Martin Marietta Materials had a net margin of 17.25% and a return on equity of 15.77%. The business had revenue of $1.61 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.62 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $3.04 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. will post 21.3 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Martin Marietta Materials Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 28th. Investors of record on Monday, March 4th were paid a dividend of $0.74 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 1st. This represents a $2.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.50%. Martin Marietta Materials’s dividend payout ratio is presently 15.72%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on MLM shares. Morgan Stanley started coverage on shares of Martin Marietta Materials in a report on Monday, January 8th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $595.00 target price on the stock. Wolfe Research cut shares of Martin Marietta Materials from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a report on Friday, March 8th. Stephens raised their target price on shares of Martin Marietta Materials from $575.00 to $605.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, February 16th. HSBC raised Martin Marietta Materials from a “reduce” rating to a “hold” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $376.00 to $543.00 in a report on Thursday, February 22nd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $600.00 price target (up previously from $530.00) on shares of Martin Marietta Materials in a report on Friday, March 22nd. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $588.69.

Insider Activity at Martin Marietta Materials

In related news, EVP Roselyn R. Bar sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $603.29, for a total transaction of $6,032,900.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 59,970 shares in the company, valued at $36,179,301.30. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In other Martin Marietta Materials news, CEO C Howard Nye sold 15,000 shares of Martin Marietta Materials stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $604.26, for a total value of $9,063,900.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 134,640 shares in the company, valued at $81,357,566.40. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Roselyn R. Bar sold 10,000 shares of Martin Marietta Materials stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $603.29, for a total transaction of $6,032,900.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 59,970 shares in the company, valued at approximately $36,179,301.30. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 26,724 shares of company stock worth $16,033,760 over the last quarter. 0.59% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Martin Marietta Materials Profile

Martin Marietta Materials, Inc, a natural resource-based building materials company, supplies aggregates and heavy-side building materials to the construction industry in the United States and internationally. It offers crushed stone, sand, and gravel products; ready mixed concrete and asphalt; paving products and services; and Portland and specialty cement for use in the infrastructure projects, and nonresidential and residential construction markets, as well as in the railroad, agricultural, utility, and environmental industries.