Commerce Bank Cuts Stock Holdings in Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. (NYSE:MLM)

Commerce Bank lowered its stake in Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. (NYSE:MLM) by 3.7% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 2,503 shares of the construction company’s stock after selling 96 shares during the period. Commerce Bank’s holdings in Martin Marietta Materials were worth $1,293,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Lee Danner & Bass Inc. bought a new stake in Martin Marietta Materials in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Whipplewood Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Martin Marietta Materials in the 4th quarter worth $32,000. Kestra Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Martin Marietta Materials in the fourth quarter valued at about $35,000. Hopwood Financial Services Inc. bought a new position in shares of Martin Marietta Materials during the fourth quarter valued at about $36,000. Finally, EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Martin Marietta Materials by 91.9% during the fourth quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 71 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $37,000 after purchasing an additional 34 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 95.04% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Martin Marietta Materials news, EVP Donald A. Mccunniff sold 1,332 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $475.00, for a total value of $632,700.00. Following the completion of the sale, 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 sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, SVP Michael J. Petro acquired 550 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 4th. The stock was acquired 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,082,514.45. This 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 company insiders.

Martin Marietta Materials Stock Down 1.7 %

MLM stock opened at $485.91 on Tuesday. The business’s 50-day moving average is $485.78 and its two-hundred day moving average is $532.28. The company has a market cap of $29.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.03, a P/E/G ratio of 4.45 and a beta of 0.81. Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $441.95 and a fifty-two week high of $633.23. 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 (NYSE:MLM) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The construction company reported $4.79 earnings per share 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%. As a group, analysts forecast that Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. will post 19.53 earnings per share for the current year.

Martin Marietta Materials Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced 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 is 9.77%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. Wolfe Research upgraded 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. Raymond James decreased their price objective on shares of Martin Marietta Materials from $630.00 to $600.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Stifel Nicolaus assumed coverage on shares of Martin Marietta Materials in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. They set a “buy” rating and a $559.00 target price on the stock. Citigroup decreased their price target on shares of Martin Marietta Materials from $701.00 to $600.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded Martin Marietta Materials from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Thursday, February 20th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, eleven have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Martin Marietta Materials currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $599.62.

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.