Gulf International Bank UK Ltd Sells 212 Shares of Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. (NYSE:MLM)

Gulf International Bank UK Ltd cut its stake in Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. (NYSE:MLM) by 4.1% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 4,901 shares of the construction company’s stock after selling 212 shares during the period. Gulf International Bank UK Ltd’s holdings in Martin Marietta Materials were worth $2,637,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of MLM. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its stake in shares of Martin Marietta Materials by 114.3% during the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 980,699 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $602,092,000 after buying an additional 523,038 shares during the last quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company raised its stake in shares of Martin Marietta Materials by 247.5% during the second quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 148,827 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $80,634,000 after buying an additional 106,002 shares during the last quarter. M&G Plc bought a new stake in shares of Martin Marietta Materials during the first quarter worth approximately $41,142,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its stake 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 buying an additional 65,454 shares during the last quarter. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Martin Marietta Materials by 46,996.7% during the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 56,516 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $30,420,000 after buying an additional 56,396 shares during the last quarter. 95.04% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on MLM shares. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on shares of Martin Marietta Materials from $610.00 to $657.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, August 26th. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Martin Marietta Materials from $595.00 to $645.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 29th. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their price objective on shares of Martin Marietta Materials from $650.00 to $635.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. StockNews.com cut shares of Martin Marietta Materials from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 25th. Finally, BNP Paribas upgraded shares of Martin Marietta Materials to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, September 19th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Martin Marietta Materials has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $626.92.

Martin Marietta Materials Stock Performance

Shares of MLM opened at $617.31 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 2.34, a quick ratio of 1.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $545.48 and a 200 day simple moving average of $556.16. Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. has a 12 month low of $439.36 and a 12 month high of $633.23. The stock has a market capitalization of $37.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.24, a PEG ratio of 3.86 and a beta of 0.90.

Martin Marietta Materials (NYSE:MLM) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The construction company reported $5.91 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $6.41 by ($0.50). The company had revenue of $1.89 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.94 billion. Martin Marietta Materials had a net margin of 30.47% and a return on equity of 12.53%. Martin Marietta Materials’s revenue for the quarter was down 5.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $6.94 earnings per share. Research analysts forecast that Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. will post 17.95 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Martin Marietta Materials Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 30th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 3rd were given a dividend of $0.79 per share. This represents a $3.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.51%. This is a positive change from Martin Marietta Materials’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.74. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, September 3rd. Martin Marietta Materials’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.