Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. (NYSE:MLM) Shares Sold by M.D. Sass LLC

M.D. Sass LLC reduced its stake in Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. (NYSE:MLM) by 1.9% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 100,158 shares of the construction company’s stock after selling 1,925 shares during the period. Martin Marietta Materials makes up about 3.9% of M.D. Sass LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 16th biggest holding. M.D. Sass LLC owned approximately 0.16% of Martin Marietta Materials worth $51,732,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MLM. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Martin Marietta Materials by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 7,174,183 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $3,705,466,000 after buying an additional 36,531 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its position in Martin Marietta Materials by 23.3% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 2,678,425 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $1,441,663,000 after acquiring an additional 506,705 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC boosted its holdings in Martin Marietta Materials by 15.3% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 2,515,441 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $1,353,936,000 after acquiring an additional 334,605 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its position in Martin Marietta Materials by 11.7% in the fourth quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,819,744 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $939,898,000 after acquiring an additional 191,043 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Amundi raised its stake in shares of Martin Marietta Materials by 10.5% during the fourth quarter. Amundi now owns 1,562,146 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $808,005,000 after purchasing an additional 148,065 shares during the period. 95.04% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other Martin Marietta Materials news, EVP Donald A. Mccunniff sold 1,332 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $475.00, for a total value of $632,700.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 3,523 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,673,425. This trade represents a 27.44 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, SVP Michael J. Petro purchased 550 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 4th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $454.37 per share, for a total transaction of $249,903.50. Following the acquisition, the senior vice president now owns 8,985 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,082,514.45. The trade was a 6.52 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.68% of the company’s stock.

Martin Marietta Materials Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:MLM opened at $490.51 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $29.91 billion, a PE ratio of 15.17, a P/E/G ratio of 4.45 and a beta of 0.89. Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $448.50 and a fifty-two week high of $633.23. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $510.82 and a 200 day simple moving average of $539.41. The company has a quick ratio of 1.40, a current ratio of 2.50 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56.

Martin Marietta Materials (NYSE:MLM) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The construction company reported $4.79 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.62 by $0.17. Martin Marietta Materials had a return on equity of 12.11% and a net margin of 30.54%. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. will post 19.53 EPS for the current year.

Martin Marietta Materials Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 3rd will be paid a $0.79 dividend. This represents a $3.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.64%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 3rd. Martin Marietta Materials’s payout ratio is 9.77%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on MLM shares. Raymond James decreased their target price on shares of Martin Marietta Materials from $630.00 to $600.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Loop Capital lowered their target price on Martin Marietta Materials from $680.00 to $645.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Stifel Nicolaus began coverage on Martin Marietta Materials in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. They set a “buy” rating and a $559.00 target price on the stock. Barclays reduced their price target on Martin Marietta Materials from $645.00 to $600.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, HSBC upgraded Martin Marietta Materials from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $690.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $628.64.

About Martin Marietta Materials

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.