Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. (NYSE:MLM) Shares Bought by GAMMA Investing LLC

GAMMA Investing LLC grew its position in Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. (NYSE:MLM) by 18.9% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 973 shares of the construction company’s stock after purchasing an additional 155 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC’s holdings in Martin Marietta Materials were worth $527,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in Martin Marietta Materials by 1.0% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 7,170,166 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $3,577,268,000 after buying an additional 69,701 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its holdings in Martin Marietta Materials by 114.3% in the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 980,699 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $602,092,000 after purchasing an additional 523,038 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Martin Marietta Materials in the fourth quarter valued at about $308,705,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its stake in shares of Martin Marietta Materials by 4.7% during the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 615,396 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $307,026,000 after purchasing an additional 27,775 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its position in shares of Martin Marietta Materials by 15.7% in the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 387,133 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $193,145,000 after buying an additional 52,451 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 95.04% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the company. StockNews.com downgraded Martin Marietta Materials from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, May 9th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on shares of Martin Marietta Materials from $642.00 to $737.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 16th. Loop Capital lowered their price target on shares of Martin Marietta Materials from $710.00 to $630.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, July 3rd. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price objective on shares of Martin Marietta Materials from $660.00 to $665.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 17th. Finally, Citigroup lowered their target price on Martin Marietta Materials from $696.00 to $658.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, July 11th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $628.91.

Martin Marietta Materials Stock Down 2.8 %

NYSE:MLM traded down $16.64 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $568.25. The stock had a trading volume of 402,907 shares, compared to its average volume of 545,928. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.44, a current ratio of 3.16 and a quick ratio of 2.41. The company has a market capitalization of $35.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.84, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.12 and a beta of 0.91. Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. has a 1-year low of $389.90 and a 1-year high of $626.67. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $555.74 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $568.11.

Martin Marietta Materials Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 28th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 3rd were given a $0.74 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 3rd. This represents a $2.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.52%. Martin Marietta Materials’s payout ratio is 8.77%.

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.