380,202 Shares in Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. (NYSE:MLM) Purchased by Raymond James Financial Inc.

Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. (NYSE:MLM) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 380,202 shares of the construction company’s stock, valued at approximately $196,374,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its holdings in shares of Martin Marietta Materials by 23.3% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 2,678,425 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $1,441,663,000 after buying an additional 506,705 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC lifted its holdings in Martin Marietta Materials by 15.3% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 2,515,441 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $1,353,936,000 after purchasing an additional 334,605 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Martin Marietta Materials by 11.7% during the fourth quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,819,744 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $939,898,000 after purchasing an additional 191,043 shares during the last quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC lifted its holdings in 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 purchasing an additional 916,743 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its holdings in Martin Marietta Materials by 1.9% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 534,801 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $295,397,000 after purchasing an additional 9,908 shares during the last quarter. 95.04% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on MLM. Hsbc Global Res upgraded Martin Marietta Materials from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. Wolfe Research upgraded Martin Marietta Materials from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $563.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Raymond James decreased their price target on Martin Marietta Materials from $630.00 to $600.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Stifel Nicolaus began coverage on Martin Marietta Materials in a research report on Tuesday. They set a “buy” rating and a $559.00 price target on the stock. Finally, BNP Paribas cut Martin Marietta Materials from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating, fourteen have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Martin Marietta Materials currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $634.36.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, SVP Michael J. Petro acquired 550 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 4th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $454.37 per share, with a total value of $249,903.50. Following the completion of the purchase, the senior vice president now owns 8,985 shares in the company, valued at $4,082,514.45. This trade represents a 6.52 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Donald A. Mccunniff sold 1,332 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $475.00, for a total value of $632,700.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 3,523 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,673,425. This trade represents a 27.44 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.68% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Martin Marietta Materials Stock Down 3.1 %

MLM stock opened at $461.02 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 2.50, a quick ratio of 1.40 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56. The company’s 50 day moving average is $518.87 and its 200 day moving average is $543.18. The stock has a market cap of $28.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.26, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.45 and a beta of 0.89. Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. has a 1-year low of $448.50 and a 1-year high of $633.23.

Martin Marietta Materials (NYSE:MLM) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 12th. The construction company reported $4.79 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.62 by $0.17. Martin Marietta Materials had a net margin of 30.54% and a return on equity of 12.11%. Sell-side analysts predict that Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. will post 19.53 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Martin Marietta Materials Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 3rd will be paid a $0.79 dividend. This represents a $3.16 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.69%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 3rd. Martin Marietta Materials’s dividend payout ratio is currently 9.77%.

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.