William Blair Investment Management LLC Buys Shares of 181,902 Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. $MLM

William Blair Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. (NYSE:MLM) during the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 181,902 shares of the construction company’s stock, valued at approximately $104,903,000.

A number of other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in MLM. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Martin Marietta Materials by 6.6% in the first quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC now owns 794 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $379,000 after acquiring an additional 49 shares in the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC increased its stake in shares of Martin Marietta Materials by 11.4% during the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 1,408 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $673,000 after acquiring an additional 144 shares during the period. Sivia Capital Partners LLC raised its holdings in Martin Marietta Materials by 11.1% during the second quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC now owns 510 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $280,000 after purchasing an additional 51 shares in the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Martin Marietta Materials by 205.9% during the second quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 260 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $143,000 after purchasing an additional 175 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cresset Asset Management LLC lifted its position in Martin Marietta Materials by 22.6% in the second quarter. Cresset Asset Management LLC now owns 777 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $427,000 after purchasing an additional 143 shares during the period. 95.04% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the company. Royal Bank Of Canada decreased their price target on Martin Marietta Materials from $615.00 to $610.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, August 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on Martin Marietta Materials from $616.00 to $581.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, July 31st. Wolfe Research set a $648.00 price objective on Martin Marietta Materials in a report on Tuesday, August 4th. Truist Financial raised their target price on Martin Marietta Materials from $710.00 to $730.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, May 4th. Finally, Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on Martin Marietta Materials from $664.00 to $639.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, August 13th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Martin Marietta Materials has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $668.53.

Martin Marietta Materials Trading Up 1.9%

Martin Marietta Materials stock opened at $535.28 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.44, a quick ratio of 0.73 and a current ratio of 1.41. The firm has a market cap of $32.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.15, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.27 and a beta of 1.11. Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. has a 1 year low of $522.19 and a 1 year high of $710.97. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $569.66 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $596.04.

Martin Marietta Materials (NYSE:MLM) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 30th. The construction company reported $5.00 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.76 by $0.24. Martin Marietta Materials had a return on equity of 9.49% and a net margin of 36.73%.The company had revenue of $1.95 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.87 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $5.43 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 21.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts predict that Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. will post 19.07 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Martin Marietta Materials Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 30th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 1st will be issued a $0.84 dividend. This represents a $3.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.6%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 1st. This is a positive change from Martin Marietta Materials’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.83. Martin Marietta Materials’s payout ratio is presently 8.16%.

About Martin Marietta Materials

Martin Marietta Materials, Inc (NYSE: MLM) is a leading producer of aggregates and heavy building materials serving the construction and infrastructure markets. The company operates quarries, sand and gravel pits, and other extraction sites to supply crushed stone, sand and gravel, and a range of value‑added products for use in roads, bridges, commercial and residential construction, and other civil engineering projects.

In addition to its core aggregates business, Martin Marietta manufactures and sells asphalt, ready‑mixed concrete and related materials and services.