The Goldman Sachs Group Increases Martin Marietta Materials (NYSE:MLM) Price Target to $737.00

Martin Marietta Materials (NYSE:MLM) had its target price lifted by analysts at The Goldman Sachs Group from $642.00 to $737.00 in a research report issued to clients and investors on Tuesday, Benzinga reports. The firm presently has a “buy” rating on the construction company’s stock. The Goldman Sachs Group’s price target suggests a potential upside of 24.40% from the stock’s previous close.

MLM has been the subject of several other research reports. Wolfe Research downgraded shares of Martin Marietta Materials from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a report on Friday, March 8th. Stephens lifted 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. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Martin Marietta Materials from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, February 9th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their target price on shares of Martin Marietta Materials from $621.00 to $650.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday. Finally, HSBC raised shares of Martin Marietta Materials from a “reduce” rating to a “hold” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $376.00 to $543.00 in a report on Thursday, February 22nd. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $588.69.

Martin Marietta Materials Stock Performance

Shares of MLM opened at $592.46 on Tuesday. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $583.81 and a 200-day moving average of $507.61. Martin Marietta Materials has a one year low of $343.79 and a one year high of $626.67. The company has a market cap of $36.63 billion, a PE ratio of 31.46, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.93 and a beta of 0.96. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a current ratio of 3.35 and a quick ratio of 2.50.

Martin Marietta Materials (NYSE:MLM) last announced 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. The company had revenue of $1.61 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.62 billion. Martin Marietta Materials had a net margin of 17.25% and a return on equity of 15.77%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 8.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $3.04 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Martin Marietta Materials will post 21.09 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Sue W. Cole sold 1,724 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $543.48, for a total value of $936,959.52. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 19,793 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,757,099.64. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In other news, CEO C Howard Nye sold 15,000 shares of the business’s 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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 134,640 shares in the company, valued at approximately $81,357,566.40. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director Sue W. Cole sold 1,724 shares of Martin Marietta Materials stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $543.48, for a total transaction of $936,959.52. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 19,793 shares in the company, valued at $10,757,099.64. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 26,724 shares of company stock worth $16,033,760. 0.59% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Martin Marietta Materials

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in MLM. Fairfield Bush & CO. bought a new stake in shares of Martin Marietta Materials during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $46,000. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of Martin Marietta Materials by 4.0% during the 1st quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 391,276 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $150,599,000 after purchasing an additional 15,163 shares during the last quarter. Yousif Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Martin Marietta Materials by 0.4% during the 1st quarter. Yousif Capital Management LLC now owns 9,391 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $3,615,000 after purchasing an additional 40 shares during the last quarter. Prudential PLC bought a new stake in shares of Martin Marietta Materials during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $456,000. Finally, Cetera Investment Advisers grew its holdings in shares of Martin Marietta Materials by 12.8% during the 1st quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 950 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $366,000 after purchasing an additional 108 shares during the last quarter. 95.04% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Martin Marietta Materials Company 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.