Assenagon Asset Management S.A. Trims Stock Holdings in Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. (NYSE:MLM)

Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lowered its stake in shares of Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. (NYSE:MLM) by 57.6% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 31,836 shares of the construction company’s stock after selling 43,209 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. owned 0.05% of Martin Marietta Materials worth $16,443,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Martin Marietta Materials by 411.1% during the 2nd quarter. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 46 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 37 shares during the last quarter. Asset Dedication LLC boosted its position in Martin Marietta Materials by 1,300.0% during the third quarter. Asset Dedication LLC now owns 56 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $30,000 after acquiring an additional 52 shares during the last quarter. First Personal Financial Services acquired a new stake in Martin Marietta Materials during the third quarter worth approximately $33,000. Larson Financial Group LLC purchased a new stake in Martin Marietta Materials in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $49,000. Finally, Tobam raised its holdings in Martin Marietta Materials by 38.8% in the 3rd quarter. Tobam now owns 93 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $50,000 after acquiring an additional 26 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 95.04% of the company’s stock.

Martin Marietta Materials Price Performance

Shares of MLM stock opened at $543.33 on Friday. Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. has a twelve month low of $490.05 and a twelve month high of $633.23. The company has a market capitalization of $33.21 billion, a PE ratio of 16.93, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.97 and a beta of 0.91. The company has a current ratio of 2.34, a quick ratio of 1.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $555.95 and a 200-day simple moving average of $550.86.

Martin Marietta Materials (NYSE:MLM) last announced its earnings results 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). The business had revenue of $1.89 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.94 billion. Martin Marietta Materials had a net margin of 30.47% and a return on equity of 12.53%. The firm’s revenue was down 5.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $6.94 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. will post 17.6 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Martin Marietta Materials Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 2nd were paid a dividend of $0.79 per share. This represents a $3.16 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.58%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 2nd. Martin Marietta Materials’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 9.85%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently commented on MLM. Raymond James lowered their price objective on Martin Marietta Materials from $640.00 to $630.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday. Hsbc Global Res upgraded Martin Marietta Materials from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. Wolfe Research upgraded shares of Martin Marietta Materials from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $563.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Martin Marietta Materials from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, January 9th. Finally, Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on shares of Martin Marietta Materials from $657.00 to $622.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $648.71.

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.