Wedbush Securities Inc. Invests $312,000 in Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. (NYSE:MLM)

Wedbush Securities Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. (NYSE:MLM) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund purchased 604 shares of the construction company’s stock, valued at approximately $312,000.

A number of other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of MLM. Lee Danner & Bass Inc. acquired a new position in Martin Marietta Materials in the fourth quarter valued at $28,000. Whipplewood Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Martin Marietta Materials in the fourth quarter valued at $32,000. Kestra Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in Martin Marietta Materials in the fourth quarter valued at $35,000. Hopwood Financial Services Inc. acquired a new position in Martin Marietta Materials in the fourth quarter valued at $36,000. Finally, EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Martin Marietta Materials by 91.9% in the fourth quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 71 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $37,000 after buying an additional 34 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 95.04% of the company’s stock.

Martin Marietta Materials Trading Up 6.6 %

NYSE:MLM opened at $482.60 on Thursday. 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 firm has a market cap of $29.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.93, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.45 and a beta of 0.81. Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. has a 52 week low of $441.95 and a 52 week high of $633.23. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $492.55 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $534.52.

Martin Marietta Materials (NYSE:MLM) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The construction company reported $4.79 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 analysts expect that Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. will post 19.53 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Martin Marietta Materials Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Monday, March 3rd were issued a $0.79 dividend. This represents a $3.16 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.65%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 3rd. Martin Marietta Materials’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 9.77%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Martin Marietta Materials news, EVP Donald A. Mccunniff sold 1,332 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on 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 directly 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 sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, SVP Michael J. Petro purchased 550 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 4th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $454.37 per share, with a total value of $249,903.50. Following the completion of the acquisition, the senior vice president now owns 8,985 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,082,514.45. This trade represents a 6.52 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 0.68% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently issued reports on MLM. Stephens dropped their target price on shares of Martin Marietta Materials from $675.00 to $650.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 13th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered shares of Martin Marietta Materials from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $640.00 to $560.00 in a report on Wednesday, March 19th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Martin Marietta Materials from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Thursday, February 20th. Seaport Res Ptn upgraded shares of Martin Marietta Materials to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. Finally, Truist Financial dropped their price objective on shares of Martin Marietta Materials from $670.00 to $610.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 13th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $609.43.

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.