JPMorgan Chase & Co. Purchases 506,705 Shares of Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. (NYSE:MLM)

JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its holdings in Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. (NYSE:MLM) by 23.3% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,678,425 shares of the construction company’s stock after acquiring an additional 506,705 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. owned approximately 4.38% of Martin Marietta Materials worth $1,441,663,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Sanctuary Advisors LLC increased its stake in Martin Marietta Materials by 18.5% in the third quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 8,220 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $4,914,000 after purchasing an additional 1,286 shares in the last quarter. Kovack Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in Martin Marietta Materials in the 3rd quarter valued at $734,000. Benjamin Edwards Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Martin Marietta Materials by 2,448.1% in the third quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. now owns 1,376 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $741,000 after purchasing an additional 1,322 shares during the last quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. lifted its position in shares of Martin Marietta Materials by 8.5% during the 3rd quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. now owns 12,936 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $6,963,000 after buying an additional 1,014 shares in the last quarter. Finally, National Bank of Canada FI lifted its holdings in Martin Marietta Materials by 158.2% during the third quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 43,952 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $23,657,000 after acquiring an additional 26,929 shares during the period. 95.04% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Martin Marietta Materials Trading Down 0.2 %

NYSE:MLM opened at $532.04 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $32.52 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.58, a P/E/G ratio of 3.74 and a beta of 0.89. The company has a fifty day moving average of $578.09 and a 200 day moving average of $554.30. 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, Inc. has a 52 week low of $479.67 and a 52 week high of $633.23.

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

Martin Marietta Materials Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 2nd will be given a $0.79 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 2nd. This represents a $3.16 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.59%. Martin Marietta Materials’s dividend payout ratio is 9.85%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on MLM shares. Jefferies Financial Group cut their price target 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. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of Martin Marietta Materials from $595.00 to $645.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 29th. 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 note on Tuesday, December 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised shares of Martin Marietta Materials from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $515.00 to $640.00 in a report on Wednesday, November 27th. Finally, BNP Paribas cut Martin Marietta Materials from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $653.08.

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.