Signaturefd LLC Grows Stock Position in Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. (NYSE:MLM)

Signaturefd LLC lifted its stake in Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. (NYSE:MLM) by 2.6% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 835 shares of the construction company’s stock after buying an additional 21 shares during the period. Signaturefd LLC’s holdings in Martin Marietta Materials were worth $431,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the business. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its holdings in Martin Marietta Materials by 23.3% during the 3rd 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 period. FMR LLC increased its holdings in Martin Marietta Materials by 15.3% during the 3rd 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 period. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its holdings in Martin Marietta Materials by 11.7% during the 4th 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 period. Amundi increased its holdings in Martin Marietta Materials by 10.5% during the 4th quarter. Amundi now owns 1,562,146 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $808,005,000 after purchasing an additional 148,065 shares during the period. Finally, Proficio Capital Partners LLC increased its holdings in Martin Marietta Materials by 54,277.3% during the 4th 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 period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 95.04% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on MLM. Stephens reduced their price target on Martin Marietta Materials from $675.00 to $650.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Stifel Nicolaus started coverage on Martin Marietta Materials in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. They set a “buy” rating and a $559.00 target price on the stock. Wolfe Research upgraded Martin Marietta Materials from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $563.00 target price on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. BNP Paribas downgraded Martin Marietta Materials from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. Finally, 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 report on Wednesday, December 11th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $628.64.

Martin Marietta Materials Stock Performance

Shares of MLM opened at $483.84 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 50 day moving average price is $511.89 and its 200-day moving average price is $539.58. Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. has a 52 week low of $448.50 and a 52 week high of $633.23. The stock has a market cap of $29.50 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.97, 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 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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%. Equities research analysts anticipate that Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. will post 19.53 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Martin Marietta Materials Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Monday, March 3rd will be given a $0.79 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 3rd. This represents a $3.16 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.65%. Martin Marietta Materials’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 9.77%.

Insider Activity at Martin Marietta Materials

In related news, EVP Donald A. Mccunniff sold 1,332 shares of the company’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 value of $632,700.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 3,523 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,673,425. This represents a 27.44 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Michael J. Petro bought 550 shares of the firm’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 purchase, the senior vice president now owns 8,985 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,082,514.45. The trade was 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 insiders.

Martin Marietta Materials Company 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.