Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. (NYSE:MLM) Shares Purchased by Raymond James & Associates

Raymond James & Associates increased its holdings in shares of Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. (NYSE:MLM) by 7.5% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 103,447 shares of the construction company’s stock after acquiring an additional 7,197 shares during the period. Raymond James & Associates owned approximately 0.17% of Martin Marietta Materials worth $51,611,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the business. FMR LLC grew its stake in shares of 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 in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Martin Marietta Materials in the fourth quarter valued at $197,591,000. Morgan Stanley lifted its position in Martin Marietta Materials by 51.6% in the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 737,821 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $249,362,000 after acquiring an additional 251,047 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its position 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 valued at $838,421,000 after acquiring an additional 181,136 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Comerica Bank purchased a new stake in Martin Marietta Materials in the second quarter valued at $792,790,000. 95.04% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Martin Marietta Materials Trading Up 0.3 %

Shares of Martin Marietta Materials stock opened at $611.86 on Thursday. Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. has a 52-week low of $332.13 and a 52-week high of $617.08. The company has a quick ratio of 2.50, a current ratio of 3.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $555.91 and its 200-day simple moving average is $488.66. The firm has a market cap of $37.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.49, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.93 and a beta of 0.95.

Martin Marietta Materials (NYSE:MLM) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 14th. The construction company reported $4.63 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 period in the previous year, the business posted $3.04 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 8.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. will post 21.25 earnings per share for the current year.

Martin Marietta Materials Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 28th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 4th will be paid a dividend of $0.74 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 1st. This represents a $2.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.48%. Martin Marietta Materials’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 15.72%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Martin Marietta Materials news, Director Sue W. Cole sold 1,724 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $543.48, for a total transaction of $936,959.52. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 19,793 shares in the company, valued at $10,757,099.64. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In other Martin Marietta Materials news, CEO C Howard Nye sold 15,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $604.26, for a total transaction of $9,063,900.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 134,640 shares in the company, valued at $81,357,566.40. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director Sue W. Cole sold 1,724 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $543.48, for a total transaction of $936,959.52. Following the transaction, the director now owns 19,793 shares in the company, valued at $10,757,099.64. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 26,724 shares of company stock worth $16,033,760. 0.59% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price target on shares of Martin Marietta Materials from $560.00 to $642.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 16th. Morgan Stanley began coverage on shares of Martin Marietta Materials in a research report on Monday, January 8th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $595.00 price target for the company. HSBC raised shares of Martin Marietta Materials from a “reduce” rating to a “hold” rating and upped their target price for the company from $376.00 to $543.00 in a report on Thursday, February 22nd. StockNews.com cut shares of Martin Marietta Materials from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, February 9th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus upped their target price on shares of Martin Marietta Materials from $510.00 to $598.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 19th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $564.85.

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.