ABC Arbitrage SA Buys Shares of 1,406 Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. (NYSE:MLM)

ABC Arbitrage SA acquired a new position in shares of Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. (NYSE:MLM) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor acquired 1,406 shares of the construction company’s stock, valued at approximately $726,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its position in shares of Martin Marietta Materials by 23.3% during the third 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. FMR LLC boosted 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 buying an additional 334,605 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its position 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 worth $876,648,000 after buying an additional 704,460 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its position in shares of Martin Marietta Materials by 1.9% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 534,801 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $295,397,000 after buying an additional 9,908 shares during the period. Finally, Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Martin Marietta Materials by 54.2% during the third quarter. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. now owns 467,782 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $251,784,000 after buying an additional 164,503 shares during the period. 95.04% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently weighed in on MLM. StockNews.com cut Martin Marietta Materials from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Saturday, February 8th. Stephens reduced their price target on Martin Marietta Materials from $675.00 to $650.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday. Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on Martin Marietta Materials from $657.00 to $622.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. Barclays reduced their price target on Martin Marietta Materials from $645.00 to $600.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday. Finally, BNP Paribas cut Martin Marietta Materials from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating, fourteen have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Martin Marietta Materials currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $639.43.

Martin Marietta Materials Price Performance

Shares of NYSE MLM opened at $527.47 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $32.24 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.44, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.62 and a beta of 0.91. The company has a current ratio of 2.34, a quick ratio of 1.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43. Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. has a 1-year low of $482.72 and a 1-year high of $633.23. The business’s 50 day moving average is $534.69 and its 200-day moving average is $548.93.

Martin Marietta Materials (NYSE:MLM) last announced its 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 return on equity of 12.53% and a net margin of 30.47%. Equities research analysts predict that Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. will post 17.57 earnings per share for the current year.

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.