Dark Forest Capital Management LP Acquires 459 Shares of Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. (NYSE:MLM)

Dark Forest Capital Management LP lifted its holdings in Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. (NYSE:MLM) by 91.6% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 960 shares of the construction company’s stock after acquiring an additional 459 shares during the period. Dark Forest Capital Management LP’s holdings in Martin Marietta Materials were worth $496,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in MLM. Lee Danner & Bass Inc. bought a new position in Martin Marietta Materials in the 4th quarter worth approximately $28,000. Whipplewood Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Martin Marietta Materials in the fourth quarter worth $32,000. Kestra Investment Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Martin Marietta Materials during the fourth quarter worth $35,000. Hopwood Financial Services Inc. purchased a new position in Martin Marietta Materials during the fourth quarter valued at $36,000. Finally, EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Martin Marietta Materials by 91.9% in the 4th quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 71 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $37,000 after acquiring an additional 34 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 95.04% of the company’s stock.

Martin Marietta Materials Stock Performance

Martin Marietta Materials stock opened at $505.00 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56, a quick ratio of 1.40 and a current ratio of 2.50. The company has a market capitalization of $30.60 billion, a PE ratio of 15.62, a P/E/G ratio of 4.45 and a beta of 0.81. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $483.45 and a 200-day moving average price of $531.57. Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $441.95 and a fifty-two week high of $633.23.

Martin Marietta Materials (NYSE:MLM) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The construction company reported $4.79 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 forecast that Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. will post 19.53 earnings per share for the current year.

Martin Marietta Materials Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 3rd were given a dividend of $0.79 per share. This represents a $3.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.63%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 3rd. Martin Marietta Materials’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 9.77%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on MLM. StockNews.com lowered Martin Marietta Materials from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 20th. Citigroup cut their price target on 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 Martin Marietta Materials from $675.00 to $650.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 13th. UBS Group cut shares of Martin Marietta Materials from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $491.00 price target on the stock. in a research report on Monday, April 7th. Finally, Truist Financial dropped their price objective on shares of Martin Marietta Materials from $670.00 to $610.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $599.62.

Insider Activity

In related news, SVP Michael J. Petro bought 550 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 4th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $454.37 per share, with a total value of $249,903.50. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 8,985 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,082,514.45. The trade was a 6.52 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Donald A. Mccunniff sold 1,332 shares of the company’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 sale, the executive vice president now owns 3,523 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,673,425. This trade represents a 27.44 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.68% of the company’s stock.

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.