Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA Acquires 101 Shares of Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. (NYSE:MLM)

Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its stake in shares of Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. (NYSE:MLM) by 2.9% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 3,527 shares of the construction company’s stock after acquiring an additional 101 shares during the quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA’s holdings in Martin Marietta Materials were worth $1,822,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Martin Marietta Materials by 76.2% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,628,701 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $876,648,000 after purchasing an additional 704,460 shares during the period. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC increased its stake in Martin Marietta Materials by 2.5% during the third quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC now owns 782 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $421,000 after acquiring an additional 19 shares during the period. IHT Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in Martin Marietta Materials by 13.9% in the 3rd quarter. IHT Wealth Management LLC now owns 468 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $252,000 after acquiring an additional 57 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its position in shares of Martin Marietta Materials by 9.8% in the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 425 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $229,000 after acquiring an additional 38 shares during the period. Finally, EP Wealth Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Martin Marietta Materials by 18.3% during the 3rd quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,224 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $659,000 after purchasing an additional 189 shares in the last quarter. 95.04% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, SVP Michael J. Petro bought 550 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 4th. The stock was bought at an average price of $454.37 per share, for a total transaction of $249,903.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly 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 the SEC website. Also, EVP Donald A. Mccunniff sold 1,332 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $475.00, for a total value of $632,700.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 3,523 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,673,425. This 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.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently commented on MLM shares. Stifel Nicolaus initiated coverage on Martin Marietta Materials in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $559.00 target price for the company. Wolfe Research upgraded 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 research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Barclays decreased their target price on shares of Martin Marietta Materials from $645.00 to $600.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Loop Capital dropped their price target on shares of Martin Marietta Materials from $645.00 to $615.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 1st. Finally, BNP Paribas lowered Martin Marietta Materials from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $609.43.

Martin Marietta Materials Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:MLM opened at $451.55 on Wednesday. The business has a fifty day moving average of $495.06 and a 200-day moving average of $535.32. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56, a quick ratio of 1.40 and a current ratio of 2.50. Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. has a twelve month low of $442.89 and a twelve month high of $633.23. The firm has a market cap of $27.53 billion, a PE ratio of 13.97, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.45 and a beta of 0.81.

Martin Marietta Materials (NYSE:MLM) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 net margin of 30.54% and a return on equity of 12.11%. On average, equities research analysts predict that Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. will post 19.53 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Martin Marietta Materials Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Monday, March 3rd were given a $0.79 dividend. This represents a $3.16 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.70%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 3rd. Martin Marietta Materials’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 9.77%.

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.