Norinchukin Bank The Lowers Position in Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. (NYSE:MLM)

Norinchukin Bank The trimmed its stake in shares of Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. (NYSE:MLM) by 3.1% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 2,164 shares of the construction company’s stock after selling 69 shares during the period. Norinchukin Bank The’s holdings in Martin Marietta Materials were worth $1,118,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Proficio Capital Partners LLC grew its position in shares of Martin Marietta Materials by 54,277.3% during the fourth quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 918,432 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $474,370,000 after purchasing an additional 916,743 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its holdings in 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 valued at $876,648,000 after buying an additional 704,460 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Martin Marietta Materials in the 4th quarter worth approximately $306,863,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its holdings 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 acquiring an additional 506,705 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in shares of Martin Marietta Materials during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $196,374,000. 95.04% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Martin Marietta Materials news, SVP Michael J. Petro acquired 550 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 4th. The shares were bought 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 directly owns 8,985 shares in the company, valued at $4,082,514.45. This represents a 6.52 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Donald A. Mccunniff sold 1,332 shares of the company’s 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 sale, the executive vice president now owns 3,523 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,673,425. This represents a 27.44 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.68% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MLM has been the topic of several research reports. Stephens reduced their price target on shares of Martin Marietta Materials from $675.00 to $650.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. downgraded shares of Martin Marietta Materials from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their price target for the company from $640.00 to $560.00 in a report on Wednesday, March 19th. Raymond James reduced their price objective on Martin Marietta Materials from $630.00 to $600.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. StockNews.com lowered Martin Marietta Materials from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 20th. Finally, Barclays cut their target price on 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. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, eleven have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Martin Marietta Materials presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $599.62.

Martin Marietta Materials Price Performance

Martin Marietta Materials stock opened at $485.91 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $29.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.03, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.45 and a beta of 0.81. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $485.78 and a two-hundred day moving average of $532.28. Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. has a 1 year low of $441.95 and a 1 year 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.

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

Martin Marietta Materials Dividend Announcement

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

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.