Vanguard Group Inc. Buys 36,531 Shares of Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. (NYSE:MLM)

Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. (NYSE:MLM) by 0.5% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 7,174,183 shares of the construction company’s stock after acquiring an additional 36,531 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. owned about 11.74% of Martin Marietta Materials worth $3,705,466,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its position in Martin Marietta Materials by 76.2% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,628,701 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $876,648,000 after buying an additional 704,460 shares during the period. Intech Investment Management LLC lifted its position in Martin Marietta Materials by 9.6% during the 3rd quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 4,120 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $2,218,000 after acquiring an additional 361 shares during the period. Raymond James Trust N.A. lifted its holdings in shares of Martin Marietta Materials by 5.6% during the third quarter. Raymond James Trust N.A. now owns 1,724 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $928,000 after purchasing an additional 91 shares during the last quarter. Cerity Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of Martin Marietta Materials by 28.9% in the third quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 26,302 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $14,157,000 after acquiring an additional 5,899 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Swedbank AB increased its holdings in shares of Martin Marietta Materials by 326.4% during the third quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 3,492 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $1,880,000 after acquiring an additional 2,673 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 95.04% of the company’s stock.

Martin Marietta Materials Stock Performance

MLM opened at $490.51 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56, a quick ratio of 1.40 and a current ratio of 2.50. The stock has a market capitalization of $29.91 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.17, a PEG ratio of 4.45 and a beta of 0.89. The company has a fifty day moving average of $510.82 and a 200 day moving average of $539.41. Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $448.50 and a fifty-two week high of $633.23.

Martin Marietta Materials (NYSE:MLM) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The construction company reported $4.79 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.62 by $0.17. Martin Marietta Materials had a return on equity of 12.11% and a net margin of 30.54%. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. will post 19.53 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Martin Marietta Materials Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 3rd will be paid a $0.79 dividend. This represents a $3.16 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.64%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 3rd. Martin Marietta Materials’s payout ratio is 9.77%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts recently commented on the stock. Raymond James cut their price objective on shares of Martin Marietta Materials from $630.00 to $600.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Stephens reduced their price target on shares of Martin Marietta Materials from $675.00 to $650.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Citigroup lowered their target price on shares of Martin Marietta Materials from $701.00 to $600.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Loop Capital reduced their price target on shares of Martin Marietta Materials from $680.00 to $645.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, Wolfe Research raised shares of Martin Marietta Materials from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $563.00 price objective for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $628.64.

Insider Transactions at Martin Marietta Materials

In other news, SVP Michael J. Petro bought 550 shares of Martin Marietta Materials stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 4th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $454.37 per share, with a total value of $249,903.50. Following the completion of the purchase, the senior vice president now owns 8,985 shares in the company, valued at $4,082,514.45. The trade was a 6.52 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Donald A. Mccunniff sold 1,332 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $475.00, for a total transaction of $632,700.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 3,523 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,673,425. This trade represents a 27.44 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.68% of the company’s stock.

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.