Desjardins Global Asset Management Inc. Lowers Stock Position in Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. (NYSE:MLM)

Desjardins Global Asset Management Inc. lowered its position in Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. (NYSE:MLM) by 25.9% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 683 shares of the construction company’s stock after selling 239 shares during the period. Desjardins Global Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Martin Marietta Materials were worth $341,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in MLM. Fairfield Bush & CO. purchased a new stake in Martin Marietta Materials during the first quarter worth about $46,000. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. increased its holdings in Martin Marietta Materials by 4.0% during the first quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 391,276 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $150,599,000 after buying an additional 15,163 shares during the last quarter. Yousif Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Martin Marietta Materials by 0.4% during the first quarter. Yousif Capital Management LLC now owns 9,391 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $3,615,000 after buying an additional 40 shares during the last quarter. Prudential PLC purchased a new stake in Martin Marietta Materials during the first quarter worth about $456,000. Finally, Cetera Investment Advisers increased its holdings in Martin Marietta Materials by 12.8% during the first quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 950 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $366,000 after buying an additional 108 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 95.04% of the company’s stock.

Martin Marietta Materials Price Performance

MLM stock opened at $587.13 on Friday. Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. has a 12 month low of $343.79 and a 12 month high of $626.67. The firm has a market capitalization of $36.24 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.18, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.88 and a beta of 0.96. The company has a current ratio of 3.35, a quick ratio of 2.50 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $586.40 and a 200-day moving average of $508.75.

Martin Marietta Materials (NYSE:MLM) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 14th. The construction company reported $4.63 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.96 by $0.67. Martin Marietta Materials had a net margin of 17.25% and a return on equity of 15.77%. The business had revenue of $1.61 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.62 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $3.04 earnings per share. Martin Marietta Materials’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. will post 21.23 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Martin Marietta Materials Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 4th were given a dividend of $0.74 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 1st. This represents a $2.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.50%. Martin Marietta Materials’s payout ratio is presently 15.72%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Martin Marietta Materials

In other Martin Marietta Materials news, Director Sue W. Cole sold 1,724 shares of Martin Marietta Materials stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $543.48, for a total transaction of $936,959.52. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 19,793 shares in the company, valued at $10,757,099.64. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other Martin Marietta Materials news, Director Sue W. Cole sold 1,724 shares of Martin Marietta Materials stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $543.48, for a total transaction of $936,959.52. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 19,793 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,757,099.64. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO C Howard Nye sold 15,000 shares of Martin Marietta Materials stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $604.26, for a total transaction of $9,063,900.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 134,640 shares in the company, valued at $81,357,566.40. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 26,724 shares of company stock worth $16,033,760 over the last three months. 0.61% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have weighed in on MLM. Truist Financial increased their target price on shares of Martin Marietta Materials from $610.00 to $700.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 2nd. StockNews.com lowered shares of Martin Marietta Materials from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, February 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $600.00 target price (up previously from $530.00) on shares of Martin Marietta Materials in a research report on Friday, March 22nd. Morgan Stanley began coverage on shares of Martin Marietta Materials in a research report on Monday, January 8th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $595.00 target price for the company. Finally, Wolfe Research lowered shares of Martin Marietta Materials from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research report on Friday, March 8th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Martin Marietta Materials has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $588.69.

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.