Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA Lowers Holdings in Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. (NYSE:MLM)

Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA reduced its stake in shares of Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. (NYSE:MLM) by 99.4% in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 3,426 shares of the construction company’s stock after selling 605,713 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA’s holdings in Martin Marietta Materials were worth $1,844,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of MLM. Tidal Investments LLC increased its holdings in shares of Martin Marietta Materials by 14.0% during the 1st quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 3,632 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $2,230,000 after purchasing an additional 445 shares in the last quarter. Strategic Wealth Partners Ltd. acquired a new position in shares of Martin Marietta Materials in the first quarter worth about $298,000. Virtu Financial LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Martin Marietta Materials during the 1st quarter worth about $819,000. Atria Investments Inc grew its position in shares of Martin Marietta Materials by 3.1% during the 1st quarter. Atria Investments Inc now owns 12,205 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $7,480,000 after acquiring an additional 363 shares during the period. Finally, Beck Bode LLC increased its stake in shares of Martin Marietta Materials by 40.0% in the 1st quarter. Beck Bode LLC now owns 8,388 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $5,150,000 after purchasing an additional 2,395 shares in the last quarter. 95.04% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Martin Marietta Materials Stock Performance

Shares of MLM stock opened at $595.35 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $36.39 billion, a PE ratio of 18.55, a P/E/G ratio of 4.10 and a beta of 0.90. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $569.17 and a two-hundred day moving average of $556.36. Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. has a 52 week low of $456.83 and a 52 week high of $633.23. The company has a quick ratio of 1.24, a current ratio of 2.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43.

Martin Marietta Materials (NYSE:MLM) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The construction company reported $5.91 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $6.41 by ($0.50). Martin Marietta Materials had a return on equity of 12.53% and a net margin of 30.47%. The firm had revenue of $1.89 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.94 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $6.94 EPS. The company’s revenue was down 5.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts predict that Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. will post 17.58 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Martin Marietta Materials Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Investors of record on Monday, December 2nd will be issued a $0.79 dividend. This represents a $3.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.53%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 2nd. Martin Marietta Materials’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 9.85%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have commented on MLM shares. UBS Group assumed coverage on Martin Marietta Materials in a report on Thursday, November 7th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $730.00 price objective on the stock. Stephens cut their price target on shares of Martin Marietta Materials from $650.00 to $610.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, August 9th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Martin Marietta Materials from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 21st. Truist Financial dropped their target price on shares of Martin Marietta Materials from $700.00 to $670.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, August 9th. Finally, BNP Paribas raised shares of Martin Marietta Materials to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 19th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Martin Marietta Materials presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $644.46.

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.