Thomas J. Herzfeld Advisors Inc. Decreases Stake in Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. (NYSE:MLM)

Thomas J. Herzfeld Advisors Inc. cut its position in shares of Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. (NYSE:MLM) by 5.2% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 3,640 shares of the construction company’s stock after selling 200 shares during the period. Thomas J. Herzfeld Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Martin Marietta Materials were worth $1,880,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in MLM. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Martin Marietta Materials by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 7,174,183 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $3,705,466,000 after acquiring an additional 36,531 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its position in Martin Marietta Materials by 23.3% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 2,678,425 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $1,441,663,000 after purchasing an additional 506,705 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Martin Marietta Materials by 11.7% in the 4th quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,819,744 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $939,898,000 after buying an additional 191,043 shares in the last quarter. Amundi increased its holdings in shares of Martin Marietta Materials by 10.5% in the 4th quarter. Amundi now owns 1,562,146 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $808,005,000 after buying an additional 148,065 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Martin Marietta Materials by 2.2% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,472,411 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $758,499,000 after buying an additional 32,082 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 95.04% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Martin Marietta Materials news, SVP Michael J. Petro acquired 550 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 4th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $454.37 per share, for a total transaction of $249,903.50. Following the completion of the purchase, the senior vice president now owns 8,985 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,082,514.45. This trade represents a 6.52 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Donald A. Mccunniff sold 1,332 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 3,523 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $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 company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently commented on MLM. Barclays dropped their price target on Martin Marietta Materials from $645.00 to $600.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. BNP Paribas cut Martin Marietta Materials from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. StockNews.com lowered Martin Marietta Materials from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Thursday, February 20th. Seaport Res Ptn upgraded Martin Marietta Materials to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, March 21st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut shares of Martin Marietta Materials from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their price objective for the company from $640.00 to $560.00 in a research report on Wednesday, March 19th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $628.64.

Martin Marietta Materials Price Performance

Shares of MLM stock opened at $478.39 on Tuesday. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $505.73 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $538.52. 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, Inc. has a one year low of $448.50 and a one year high of $633.23. The company has a market capitalization of $29.17 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.80, a P/E/G 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%. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. will post 19.53 EPS for the current year.

Martin Marietta Materials Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Monday, March 3rd were paid a $0.79 dividend. This represents a $3.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.66%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 3rd. Martin Marietta Materials’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 9.77%.

Martin Marietta Materials 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.