Advisory Services Network LLC Buys 92 Shares of Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. (NYSE:MLM)

Advisory Services Network LLC raised its stake in Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. (NYSE:MLM) by 6.6% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,496 shares of the construction company’s stock after acquiring an additional 92 shares during the quarter. Advisory Services Network LLC’s holdings in Martin Marietta Materials were worth $773,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Lee Danner & Bass Inc. purchased a new position in Martin Marietta Materials in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Whipplewood Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Martin Marietta Materials in the fourth quarter valued at $32,000. Kestra Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Martin Marietta Materials during the 4th quarter valued at $35,000. Hopwood Financial Services Inc. bought a new position in shares of Martin Marietta Materials during the 4th quarter worth $36,000. Finally, EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Martin Marietta Materials by 91.9% in the 4th quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 71 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $37,000 after acquiring an additional 34 shares during the last quarter. 95.04% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Martin Marietta Materials Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:MLM opened at $503.24 on Tuesday. Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. has a one year low of $441.95 and a one year high of $633.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56, a current ratio of 2.50 and a quick ratio of 1.40. The firm has a market capitalization of $30.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.57, a PEG ratio of 4.45 and a beta of 0.81. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $489.70 and its 200-day moving average price is $533.50.

Martin Marietta Materials (NYSE:MLM) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The construction company reported $4.79 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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, equities research analysts anticipate that Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. will post 19.53 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Martin Marietta Materials Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 3rd were paid a $0.79 dividend. This represents a $3.16 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.63%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 3rd. Martin Marietta Materials’s dividend payout ratio is currently 9.77%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered shares of Martin Marietta Materials from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their target price for the stock from $640.00 to $560.00 in a research report on Wednesday, March 19th. Citigroup reduced their price objective on shares of Martin Marietta Materials from $701.00 to $600.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, January 6th. StockNews.com cut shares of Martin Marietta Materials from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Thursday, February 20th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on Martin Marietta Materials from $657.00 to $622.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. Finally, Seaport Res Ptn raised Martin Marietta Materials to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $609.43.

Insider Buying and Selling at Martin Marietta Materials

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

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.