Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. (NYSE:MLM) Stock Position Lifted by Geode Capital Management LLC

Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. (NYSE:MLM) by 2.2% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 1,472,411 shares of the construction company’s stock after buying an additional 32,082 shares during the quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC owned 2.41% of Martin Marietta Materials worth $758,499,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Proficio Capital Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of Martin Marietta Materials by 54,277.3% in the fourth quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 918,432 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $474,370,000 after acquiring an additional 916,743 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its stake in Martin Marietta Materials by 76.2% in 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 purchasing an additional 704,460 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Martin Marietta Materials in the 4th quarter worth about $306,863,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its stake in shares of Martin Marietta Materials by 23.3% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 2,678,425 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $1,441,663,000 after purchasing an additional 506,705 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Martin Marietta Materials during the 4th quarter valued at about $196,374,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 95.04% of the company’s stock.

Martin Marietta Materials Price Performance

Shares of Martin Marietta Materials stock opened at $492.54 on Thursday. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $503.23 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $537.94. Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $448.50 and a fifty-two week high of $633.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56, a current ratio of 2.50 and a quick ratio of 1.40. The company has a market cap of $30.03 billion, a PE ratio of 15.23, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.45 and a beta of 0.89.

Martin Marietta Materials (NYSE:MLM) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The construction company reported $4.79 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.62 by $0.17. Martin Marietta Materials had a return on equity of 12.11% and a net margin of 30.54%. Analysts expect that Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. will post 19.53 EPS for the current year.

Martin Marietta Materials Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 3rd were given a dividend of $0.79 per share. This represents a $3.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.64%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 3rd. Martin Marietta Materials’s dividend payout ratio is presently 9.77%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on MLM shares. 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. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on shares of Martin Marietta Materials from $657.00 to $622.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. Stephens decreased their price objective on shares of Martin Marietta Materials from $675.00 to $650.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Citigroup cut their target price on Martin Marietta Materials from $701.00 to $600.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, January 6th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded Martin Marietta Materials from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 20th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating, thirteen have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $626.50.

Insider Activity at Martin Marietta Materials

In other Martin Marietta Materials news, SVP Michael J. Petro purchased 550 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 4th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $454.37 per share, with a total value of $249,903.50. Following the acquisition, the senior vice president now directly owns 8,985 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,082,514.45. This represents a 6.52 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 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 transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 3,523 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,673,425. The trade was a 27.44 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.68% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Martin Marietta Materials 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.