Harvey Capital Management Inc. Trims Stock Position in Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. (NYSE:MLM)

Harvey Capital Management Inc. decreased its position in Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. (NYSE:MLM) by 0.2% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 13,886 shares of the construction company’s stock after selling 30 shares during the period. Martin Marietta Materials accounts for approximately 1.9% of Harvey Capital Management Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 16th largest position. Harvey Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Martin Marietta Materials were worth $7,474,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in MLM. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised 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 buying an additional 523,038 shares during the period. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company grew its position in Martin Marietta Materials by 247.5% in the 2nd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 148,827 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $80,634,000 after acquiring an additional 106,002 shares in the last quarter. M&G Plc purchased a new stake in Martin Marietta Materials during the first quarter worth about $41,142,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its position in shares of Martin Marietta Materials by 682.5% during the third quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 75,045 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $40,393,000 after purchasing an additional 65,454 shares in the last quarter. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Martin Marietta Materials by 46,996.7% in the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 56,516 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $30,420,000 after purchasing an additional 56,396 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 95.04% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their target price on shares of Martin Marietta Materials from $650.00 to $635.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. StockNews.com downgraded Martin Marietta Materials from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on shares of Martin Marietta Materials from $560.00 to $515.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. Barclays boosted their price target on shares of Martin Marietta Materials from $595.00 to $645.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 29th. Finally, Stephens reduced their price objective on shares of Martin Marietta Materials from $650.00 to $610.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, August 9th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Martin Marietta Materials presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $626.92.

Martin Marietta Materials Stock Performance

Shares of MLM stock traded down $12.20 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $580.14. 496,750 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 403,506. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $541.37 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $555.98. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a quick ratio of 0.94 and a current ratio of 2.34. Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. has a 12-month low of $438.53 and a 12-month high of $626.67. The stock has a market capitalization of $35.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.08, a P/E/G ratio of 5.04 and a beta of 0.90.

Martin Marietta Materials (NYSE:MLM) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The construction company reported $5.91 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $6.41 by ($0.50). The firm had revenue of $1.89 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.94 billion. Martin Marietta Materials had a return on equity of 12.53% and a net margin of 30.47%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 5.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $6.94 EPS. On average, analysts forecast that Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. will post 18.48 EPS for the current year.

Martin Marietta Materials Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 30th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 3rd were paid a $0.79 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, September 3rd. This is a positive change from Martin Marietta Materials’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.74. This represents a $3.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.54%. Martin Marietta Materials’s payout ratio is currently 9.85%.

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.