GAMMA Investing LLC Raises Holdings in Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. (NYSE:MLM)

GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its stake in shares of Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. (NYSE:MLM) by 2.2% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 1,189 shares of the construction company’s stock after buying an additional 26 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC’s holdings in Martin Marietta Materials were worth $614,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Inspire Investing LLC grew its stake in shares of Martin Marietta Materials by 0.9% during the 3rd quarter. Inspire Investing LLC now owns 2,126 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $1,144,000 after purchasing an additional 19 shares during the period. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC boosted its holdings in Martin Marietta Materials by 2.5% during the third quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC now owns 782 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $421,000 after buying an additional 19 shares in the last quarter. Meiji Yasuda Life Insurance Co grew its position in Martin Marietta Materials by 3.0% during the second quarter. Meiji Yasuda Life Insurance Co now owns 680 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $368,000 after buying an additional 20 shares during the period. iA Global Asset Management Inc. increased its holdings in Martin Marietta Materials by 3.6% in the third quarter. iA Global Asset Management Inc. now owns 570 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $307,000 after buying an additional 20 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Financial Counselors Inc. raised its position in shares of Martin Marietta Materials by 1.9% in the third quarter. Financial Counselors Inc. now owns 1,123 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $604,000 after acquiring an additional 21 shares during the period. 95.04% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Martin Marietta Materials Trading Up 1.2 %

MLM opened at $516.67 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $31.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.10, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.74 and a beta of 0.89. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $570.99 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $552.38. Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. has a 1-year low of $482.01 and a 1-year high of $633.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a current ratio of 2.34 and a quick ratio of 1.24.

Martin Marietta Materials (NYSE:MLM) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The construction company reported $5.91 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.41 by ($0.50). The company had revenue of $1.89 billion for 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%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 5.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $6.94 EPS. Analysts expect that Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. will post 17.58 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Martin Marietta Materials Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Investors of record on Monday, December 2nd were given a dividend of $0.79 per share. This represents a $3.16 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.61%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 2nd. Martin Marietta Materials’s payout ratio is currently 9.85%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on MLM shares. StockNews.com cut Martin Marietta Materials from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Wednesday. HSBC raised Martin Marietta Materials from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $690.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. UBS Group assumed coverage on Martin Marietta Materials in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. They set a “buy” rating and a $730.00 target price for the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded Martin Marietta Materials from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their target price for the company from $515.00 to $640.00 in a research report on Wednesday, November 27th. Finally, Morgan Stanley cut their price target on shares of Martin Marietta Materials from $657.00 to $622.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating, thirteen have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $653.08.

Martin Marietta Materials Company 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.