DnB Asset Management AS Has $6.13 Million Stake in Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. (NYSE:MLM)

DnB Asset Management AS lifted its position in shares of Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. (NYSE:MLM) by 1.8% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 11,877 shares of the construction company’s stock after buying an additional 209 shares during the quarter. DnB Asset Management AS’s holdings in Martin Marietta Materials were worth $6,134,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Franklin Street Advisors Inc. NC lifted its holdings in shares of Martin Marietta Materials by 15.5% during the fourth quarter. Franklin Street Advisors Inc. NC now owns 25,242 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $13,037,000 after buying an additional 3,384 shares in the last quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC increased its position in Martin Marietta Materials by 18.5% during the third quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 8,220 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $4,914,000 after acquiring an additional 1,286 shares during the period. RMR Wealth Builders increased its position in Martin Marietta Materials by 431.3% during the fourth quarter. RMR Wealth Builders now owns 2,391 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $1,235,000 after acquiring an additional 1,941 shares during the period. Benjamin Edwards Inc. raised its stake in Martin Marietta Materials by 2,448.1% in the 3rd quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. now owns 1,376 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $741,000 after purchasing an additional 1,322 shares in the last quarter. Finally, InTrack Investment Management Inc boosted its holdings in Martin Marietta Materials by 33.9% in the 4th quarter. InTrack Investment Management Inc now owns 3,446 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $1,784,000 after purchasing an additional 872 shares during the period. 95.04% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at Martin Marietta Materials

In other Martin Marietta Materials news, SVP Michael J. Petro bought 550 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 4th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $454.37 per share, for a total transaction of $249,903.50. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 8,985 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,082,514.45. This represents a 6.52 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Donald A. Mccunniff sold 1,332 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 3,523 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,673,425. The trade was a 27.44 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.68% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on MLM shares. Citigroup dropped their price target on shares of Martin Marietta Materials from $701.00 to $600.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Raymond James dropped their price objective on Martin Marietta Materials from $630.00 to $600.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Stifel Nicolaus assumed coverage on Martin Marietta Materials in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. They set a “buy” rating and a $559.00 target price on the stock. Stephens decreased their price target on Martin Marietta Materials from $675.00 to $650.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, Hsbc Global Res raised shares of Martin Marietta Materials from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating, thirteen have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $628.64.

Martin Marietta Materials Price Performance

MLM stock opened at $477.92 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $29.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.78, a P/E/G ratio of 4.45 and a beta of 0.89. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56, a current ratio of 2.50 and a quick ratio of 1.40. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $507.03 and a 200 day simple moving average of $538.78. Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. has a 1 year low of $448.50 and a 1 year high of $633.23.

Martin Marietta Materials (NYSE:MLM) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The construction company reported $4.79 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.62 by $0.17. Martin Marietta Materials had a net margin of 30.54% and a return on equity of 12.11%. Research analysts anticipate that Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. will post 19.53 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Martin Marietta Materials Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 3rd will be paid a dividend of $0.79 per share. This represents a $3.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.66%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 3rd. Martin Marietta Materials’s payout ratio is 9.77%.

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.