Martin Marietta Materials (NYSE:MLM) Stock Price Expected to Rise, Morgan Stanley Analyst Says

Martin Marietta Materials (NYSE:MLM) had its price objective boosted by analysts at Morgan Stanley from $561.00 to $576.00 in a note issued to investors on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an “overweight” rating on the construction company’s stock. Morgan Stanley’s price target would suggest a potential upside of 6.93% from the stock’s current price.

Several other brokerages have also recently issued reports on MLM. Loop Capital reduced their price target on shares of Martin Marietta Materials from $645.00 to $615.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 1st. UBS Group cut Martin Marietta Materials from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $491.00 target price for the company. in a research note on Monday, April 7th. Raymond James dropped their price target on Martin Marietta Materials from $600.00 to $597.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 29th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price objective on Martin Marietta Materials from $559.00 to $609.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut shares of Martin Marietta Materials from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their target price for the company from $640.00 to $560.00 in a report on Wednesday, March 19th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, eleven have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Martin Marietta Materials presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $599.69.

Martin Marietta Materials Trading Down 0.7 %

NYSE:MLM traded down $3.55 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $538.65. 70,018 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 483,653. Martin Marietta Materials has a 12-month low of $441.95 and a 12-month high of $633.23. 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 moving average price of $486.36 and a 200-day moving average price of $529.79. The firm has a market capitalization of $32.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.66, a PEG ratio of 4.45 and a beta of 0.89.

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

Insider Transactions at Martin Marietta Materials

In other Martin Marietta Materials news, SVP Michael J. Petro purchased 550 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 4th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $454.37 per share, with a total value of $249,903.50. Following the acquisition, the senior vice president now owns 8,985 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,082,514.45. The trade was 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 link. Also, EVP Donald A. Mccunniff sold 1,332 shares of the business’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 value of $632,700.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 3,523 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,673,425. This represents a 27.44 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.68% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Martin Marietta Materials

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Checchi Capital Advisers LLC raised its holdings in Martin Marietta Materials by 1.4% in the 4th quarter. Checchi Capital Advisers LLC now owns 1,336 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $690,000 after buying an additional 19 shares during the period. OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Martin Marietta Materials by 1.9% in the 4th quarter. OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 1,020 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $527,000 after acquiring an additional 19 shares during the period. Brooklyn Investment Group lifted its holdings in shares of Martin Marietta Materials by 4.7% in the 4th quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group now owns 447 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $231,000 after acquiring an additional 20 shares during the last quarter. OLD National Bancorp IN boosted its position in shares of Martin Marietta Materials by 4.5% during the 4th quarter. OLD National Bancorp IN now owns 483 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $249,000 after purchasing an additional 21 shares during the period. Finally, Signaturefd LLC increased its holdings in Martin Marietta Materials by 2.6% in the 4th quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 835 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $431,000 after purchasing an additional 21 shares during the last quarter. 95.04% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.