Flputnam Investment Management Co. Sells 835 Shares of Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. (NYSE:MLM)

Flputnam Investment Management Co. cut its stake in Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. (NYSE:MLM) by 52.2% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 765 shares of the construction company’s stock after selling 835 shares during the period. Flputnam Investment Management Co.’s holdings in Martin Marietta Materials were worth $382,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. FMR LLC lifted its stake in shares of Martin Marietta Materials by 225.3% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,833,959 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $752,803,000 after buying an additional 1,270,116 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Martin Marietta Materials during the 4th quarter worth approximately $197,591,000. Morgan Stanley increased its position in shares of Martin Marietta Materials by 51.6% during the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 737,821 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $249,362,000 after purchasing an additional 251,047 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its stake in shares of Martin Marietta Materials by 9.7% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 2,042,537 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $838,421,000 after purchasing an additional 181,136 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Barclays PLC boosted its stake in Martin Marietta Materials by 147.2% during the second quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 202,847 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $93,651,000 after buying an additional 120,787 shares in the last quarter. 95.04% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Sue W. Cole sold 1,724 shares of Martin Marietta Materials stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $543.48, for a total value 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 filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, CEO C Howard Nye sold 15,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 134,640 shares in the company, valued at approximately $81,357,566.40. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director Sue W. Cole sold 1,724 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $543.48, for a total value of $936,959.52. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 19,793 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,757,099.64. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 26,724 shares of company stock valued at $16,033,760 over the last 90 days. 0.61% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Martin Marietta Materials Stock Down 1.0 %

Shares of NYSE:MLM opened at $587.13 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 2.50, a current ratio of 3.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49. The firm has a market cap of $36.24 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.18, a P/E/G ratio of 2.88 and a beta of 0.96. Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. has a 12 month low of $343.79 and a 12 month high of $626.67. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $586.40 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $508.75.

Martin Marietta Materials (NYSE:MLM) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 14th. The construction company reported $4.63 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 for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.62 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $3.04 earnings per share. Martin Marietta Materials’s revenue was up 8.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts forecast that Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. will post 21.23 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Martin Marietta Materials Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 28th. Stockholders 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.50%. Martin Marietta Materials’s payout ratio is currently 15.72%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently commented on MLM. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on shares of Martin Marietta Materials from $621.00 to $650.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday. Truist Financial lifted their price objective on Martin Marietta Materials from $610.00 to $700.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 2nd. Stephens increased their target price on Martin Marietta Materials from $575.00 to $605.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, February 16th. Citigroup raised their target price on Martin Marietta Materials from $635.00 to $708.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, April 5th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective on Martin Marietta Materials from $642.00 to $737.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $588.69.

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.