Adams Natural Resources Fund Inc. Raises Stock Position in Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. (NYSE:MLM)

Adams Natural Resources Fund Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. (NYSE:MLM) by 10.2% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 5,400 shares of the construction company’s stock after buying an additional 500 shares during the quarter. Adams Natural Resources Fund Inc.’s holdings in Martin Marietta Materials were worth $2,789,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in MLM. Proficio Capital Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of 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 buying an additional 916,743 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Martin Marietta Materials by 76.2% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,628,701 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $876,648,000 after purchasing an additional 704,460 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its stake in 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 period. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in Martin Marietta Materials in the 4th quarter worth about $196,374,000. Finally, FMR LLC increased its position in shares of Martin Marietta Materials by 15.3% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 2,515,441 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $1,353,936,000 after acquiring an additional 334,605 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 95.04% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MLM has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Stifel Nicolaus started coverage on Martin Marietta Materials in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $559.00 price objective on the stock. BNP Paribas lowered Martin Marietta Materials from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on shares of Martin Marietta Materials from $657.00 to $622.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. Raymond James cut their target price on shares of 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. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut shares of Martin Marietta Materials from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their price target for the stock from $640.00 to $560.00 in a research report on Wednesday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $628.64.

Martin Marietta Materials Stock Down 1.3 %

Shares of MLM stock opened at $477.49 on Friday. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $511.26 and its 200 day moving average price 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, Inc. has a 1-year low of $448.50 and a 1-year high of $633.23. 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 (NYSE:MLM) last posted 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 net margin of 30.54% and a return on equity of 12.11%. On average, research analysts expect that Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. will post 19.53 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Martin Marietta Materials Announces Dividend

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

Insider Activity

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 sale, the executive vice president now owns 3,523 shares in the company, valued at $1,673,425. This represents a 27.44 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, SVP Michael J. Petro purchased 550 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 4th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $454.37 per share, for a total transaction of $249,903.50. Following the acquisition, 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 disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.68% of the company’s stock.

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.