Rathbones Group PLC Trims Position in Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. (NYSE:MLM)

Rathbones Group PLC reduced its position in shares of Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. (NYSE:MLM) by 3.6% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 205,252 shares of the construction company’s stock after selling 7,577 shares during the period. Rathbones Group PLC’s holdings in Martin Marietta Materials were worth $106,013,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Proficio Capital Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of 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 worth $474,370,000 after purchasing an additional 916,743 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Martin Marietta Materials by 76.2% in 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. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Martin Marietta Materials in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $306,863,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its stake 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 worth $1,441,663,000 after buying an additional 506,705 shares during the period. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in Martin Marietta Materials during the 4th quarter worth approximately $196,374,000. 95.04% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Martin Marietta Materials Trading Down 3.0 %

Shares of Martin Marietta Materials stock opened at $470.33 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $28.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.55, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.45 and a beta of 0.81. Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. has a 52-week low of $430.00 and a 52-week high of $633.23. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $500.39 and its 200-day simple moving average is $537.21. The company has a quick ratio of 1.40, a current ratio of 2.50 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56.

Martin Marietta Materials (NYSE:MLM) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The construction company reported $4.79 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.62 by $0.17. Martin Marietta Materials had a net margin of 30.54% and a return on equity of 12.11%. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate 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 announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 3rd were issued a $0.79 dividend. This represents a $3.16 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.67%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 3rd. Martin Marietta Materials’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 9.77%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MLM has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Truist Financial decreased their target price on Martin Marietta Materials from $670.00 to $610.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Citigroup lowered their price target on shares of Martin Marietta Materials from $701.00 to $600.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, January 6th. Stephens decreased their price objective on shares of Martin Marietta Materials from $675.00 to $650.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Loop Capital dropped their target price on Martin Marietta Materials from $645.00 to $615.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 1st. Finally, StockNews.com cut Martin Marietta Materials from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 20th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating, thirteen have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $626.50.

Insider Activity

In related news, SVP Michael J. Petro bought 550 shares of Martin Marietta Materials stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 4th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $454.37 per share, with a total value of $249,903.50. Following the purchase, the senior vice president now owns 8,985 shares in the company, valued at $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 this link. Also, EVP Donald A. Mccunniff sold 1,332 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 $1,673,425. The trade was a 27.44 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company 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.