Martin Marietta Materials (NYSE:MLM) Downgraded to “Sell” Rating by StockNews.com

Martin Marietta Materials (NYSE:MLM) was downgraded by StockNews.com from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report issued on Saturday.

MLM has been the subject of several other research reports. Morgan Stanley cut their target price on Martin Marietta Materials from $657.00 to $622.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised Martin Marietta Materials from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $515.00 to $640.00 in a report on Wednesday, November 27th. UBS Group began coverage on shares of Martin Marietta Materials in a report on Thursday, November 7th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $730.00 target price on the stock. BNP Paribas downgraded shares of Martin Marietta Materials from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. Finally, Loop Capital upped their price objective on shares of Martin Marietta Materials from $600.00 to $680.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating, fourteen have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Martin Marietta Materials presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $648.71.

Martin Marietta Materials Stock Performance

NYSE MLM opened at $538.38 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $32.91 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.78, a PEG ratio of 4.62 and a beta of 0.91. The company has a quick ratio of 1.24, a current ratio of 2.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43. Martin Marietta Materials has a twelve month low of $490.05 and a twelve month high of $633.23. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $540.50 and its 200 day simple moving average is $550.16.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Proficio Capital Partners LLC lifted its stake 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 acquiring an additional 916,743 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its position 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 purchasing an additional 704,460 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its position in 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 valued at $1,441,663,000 after purchasing an additional 506,705 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in shares of Martin Marietta Materials in the 4th quarter valued at about $196,374,000. Finally, FMR LLC grew its position in shares of Martin Marietta Materials by 15.3% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 2,515,441 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $1,353,936,000 after buying an additional 334,605 shares during the period. 95.04% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.