Fred Alger Management LLC Sells 59,241 Shares of Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. (NYSE:MLM)

Fred Alger Management LLC cut its holdings in Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. (NYSE:MLM) by 29.0% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 144,739 shares of the construction company’s stock after selling 59,241 shares during the period. Fred Alger Management LLC owned about 0.24% of Martin Marietta Materials worth $77,906,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of MLM. Kovack Advisors Inc. bought a new position in Martin Marietta Materials in the 3rd quarter valued at $734,000. Peak Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Martin Marietta Materials in the 2nd quarter worth about $2,710,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its position in Martin Marietta Materials by 2.6% during the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 465,703 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $252,318,000 after buying an additional 11,749 shares during the period. ING Groep NV purchased a new stake in Martin Marietta Materials during the third quarter worth about $1,601,000. Finally, Douglass Winthrop Advisors LLC raised its position in Martin Marietta Materials by 2.2% in the third quarter. Douglass Winthrop Advisors LLC now owns 193,588 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $104,199,000 after acquiring an additional 4,080 shares during the period. 95.04% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on MLM. Barclays raised their price target on shares of Martin Marietta Materials from $595.00 to $645.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 29th. Loop Capital increased their target price on shares of Martin Marietta Materials from $600.00 to $680.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on shares of Martin Marietta Materials from $610.00 to $657.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, August 26th. Stephens cut their price objective on shares of Martin Marietta Materials from $650.00 to $610.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, August 9th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group lowered their target price on shares of Martin Marietta Materials from $650.00 to $635.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $644.46.

Martin Marietta Materials Stock Performance

NYSE MLM opened at $595.60 on Friday. The company has a fifty day moving average of $570.11 and a 200-day moving average of $556.63. Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. has a 52-week low of $456.83 and a 52-week high of $633.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a quick ratio of 1.24 and a current ratio of 2.34. The company has a market capitalization of $36.40 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.56, a P/E/G ratio of 4.04 and a beta of 0.90.

Martin Marietta Materials (NYSE:MLM) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The construction company reported $5.91 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.41 by ($0.50). The firm had revenue of $1.89 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.94 billion. Martin Marietta Materials had a return on equity of 12.53% and a net margin of 30.47%. Martin Marietta Materials’s revenue for the quarter was down 5.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $6.94 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. will post 17.58 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Martin Marietta Materials Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 2nd will be given a dividend of $0.79 per share. This represents a $3.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.53%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 2nd. Martin Marietta Materials’s payout ratio is currently 9.85%.

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.