Maryland State Retirement & Pension System Trims Position in Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. (NYSE:MLM)

Maryland State Retirement & Pension System lessened its stake in shares of Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. (NYSE:MLM) by 6.5% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 3,273 shares of the construction company’s stock after selling 229 shares during the period. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System’s holdings in Martin Marietta Materials were worth $1,691,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Generali Asset Management SPA SGR purchased a new stake in Martin Marietta Materials in the 4th quarter valued at about $1,783,000. RD Lewis Holdings Inc. purchased a new stake in Martin Marietta Materials in the 4th quarter valued at about $1,799,000. William Blair Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in Martin Marietta Materials by 5.5% in the 4th quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC now owns 438,202 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $226,331,000 after buying an additional 22,727 shares during the period. Signaturefd LLC raised its holdings in Martin Marietta Materials by 2.6% in the 4th quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 835 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $431,000 after buying an additional 21 shares during the period. Finally, Parallel Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Martin Marietta Materials by 5.0% in the 4th quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 1,279 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $661,000 after buying an additional 61 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 95.04% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have weighed in on MLM. HSBC raised Martin Marietta Materials from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $690.00 target price for the company in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. BNP Paribas downgraded Martin Marietta Materials from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. StockNews.com downgraded Martin Marietta Materials from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 20th. Wolfe Research raised Martin Marietta Materials from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $563.00 target price for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus began coverage on Martin Marietta Materials in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $559.00 target price for the company. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Martin Marietta Materials presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $628.64.

Insider Buying and Selling

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

Martin Marietta Materials Stock Performance

Martin Marietta Materials stock opened at $477.49 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $29.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.77, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.45 and a beta of 0.89. Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. has a 12 month low of $448.50 and a 12 month high of $633.23. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $511.26 and its 200-day moving average is $539.18. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56, a current ratio of 2.50 and a quick ratio of 1.40.

Martin Marietta Materials (NYSE:MLM) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The construction company reported $4.79 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.62 by $0.17. Martin Marietta Materials had a return on equity of 12.11% and a net margin of 30.54%. Equities analysts anticipate that Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. will post 19.53 earnings per share for the current year.

Martin Marietta Materials Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 3rd will be given a dividend of $0.79 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 3rd. This represents a $3.16 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.66%. Martin Marietta Materials’s dividend payout ratio is presently 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.