Magnetar Financial LLC Lowers Holdings in Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. (NYSE:MLM)

Magnetar Financial LLC cut its holdings in Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. (NYSE:MLM) by 52.9% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,440 shares of the construction company’s stock after selling 1,615 shares during the period. Magnetar Financial LLC’s holdings in Martin Marietta Materials were worth $744,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MLM. Whipplewood Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Martin Marietta Materials in the 4th quarter worth approximately $32,000. Kestra Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Martin Marietta Materials in the fourth quarter worth about $35,000. Hopwood Financial Services Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Martin Marietta Materials in the fourth quarter worth about $36,000. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Martin Marietta Materials by 91.9% in the fourth quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 71 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $37,000 after buying an additional 34 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Martin Marietta Materials in the fourth quarter worth about $41,000. 95.04% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on the company. Truist Financial decreased their target price on Martin Marietta Materials from $670.00 to $610.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. HSBC upgraded Martin Marietta Materials from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $690.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. StockNews.com cut shares of Martin Marietta Materials from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 20th. Citigroup decreased their target price on shares of Martin Marietta Materials from $701.00 to $600.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Finally, Wolfe Research upgraded shares of Martin Marietta Materials from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $563.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating, thirteen have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $628.64.

Martin Marietta Materials Stock Performance

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

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

Martin Marietta Materials Dividend Announcement

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