Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. (NYSE:MLM) Stake Cut by Williams Jones Wealth Management LLC.

Williams Jones Wealth Management LLC. lessened its holdings in Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. (NYSE:MLM) by 9.4% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 34,733 shares of the construction company’s stock after selling 3,585 shares during the quarter. Williams Jones Wealth Management LLC. owned approximately 0.06% of Martin Marietta Materials worth $17,940,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Proficio Capital Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Martin Marietta Materials by 54,277.3% in the 4th 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. Norges Bank bought a new position in Martin Marietta Materials in the fourth quarter worth about $306,863,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its stake in Martin Marietta Materials by 23.3% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 2,678,425 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $1,441,663,000 after acquiring an additional 506,705 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in Martin Marietta Materials in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $196,374,000. Finally, Alkeon Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Martin Marietta Materials by 46.6% during the fourth quarter. Alkeon Capital Management LLC now owns 771,198 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $398,324,000 after purchasing an additional 245,000 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 95.04% of the company’s stock.

Martin Marietta Materials Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE MLM opened at $568.38 on Tuesday. Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. has a 1 year low of $441.95 and a 1 year high of $633.23. The firm has a market cap of $34.26 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.58, a PEG ratio of 4.45 and a beta of 0.89. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $501.78 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $527.68. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56, a quick ratio of 1.40 and a current ratio of 2.50.

Martin Marietta Materials (NYSE:MLM) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 30th. The construction company reported $1.90 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.88 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $1.35 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.36 billion. Martin Marietta Materials had a return on equity of 12.11% and a net margin of 30.54%. The company’s revenue was up 8.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.93 earnings per share. Research analysts forecast that Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. will post 19.53 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Martin Marietta Materials Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 2nd will be paid a $0.79 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 2nd. This represents a $3.16 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.56%. Martin Marietta Materials’s dividend payout ratio is currently 18.20%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Donald A. Mccunniff sold 1,332 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $475.00, for a total transaction of $632,700.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 3,523 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,673,425. This trade represents a 27.44% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, SVP Michael J. Petro purchased 550 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 4th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $454.37 per share, for a total transaction of $249,903.50. Following the acquisition, the senior vice president now directly owns 8,985 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,082,514.45. This represents a 6.52% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders own 0.69% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts recently issued reports on MLM shares. Loop Capital cut their price target 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. Raymond James cut their target price on Martin Marietta Materials from $600.00 to $597.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 29th. UBS Group upgraded shares of Martin Marietta Materials from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $548.00 to $634.00 in a research report on Friday. Barclays cut their price objective on shares of Martin Marietta Materials from $645.00 to $600.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on shares of Martin Marietta Materials from $559.00 to $609.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $610.69.

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.