Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. Has $9.48 Million Stake in Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. (NYSE:MLM)

Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. raised its stake in Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. (NYSE:MLM) by 0.5% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 18,360 shares of the construction company’s stock after purchasing an additional 94 shares during the quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd.’s holdings in Martin Marietta Materials were worth $9,483,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in MLM. Boussard & Gavaudan Investment Management LLP acquired a new stake in Martin Marietta Materials in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,435,000. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Martin Marietta Materials during the 4th quarter valued at $895,000. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Martin Marietta Materials during the 4th quarter valued at $306,863,000. Blair William & Co. IL grew its position in Martin Marietta Materials by 1.3% during the 4th quarter. Blair William & Co. IL now owns 10,345 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $5,343,000 after acquiring an additional 136 shares during the last quarter. Finally, UniSuper Management Pty Ltd increased its holdings in Martin Marietta Materials by 22.9% in the 4th quarter. UniSuper Management Pty Ltd now owns 5,773 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $2,982,000 after purchasing an additional 1,074 shares in the last quarter. 95.04% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Martin Marietta Materials Trading Down 1.3 %

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

Martin Marietta Materials (NYSE:MLM) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 12th. The construction company reported $4.79 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 forecast that Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. will post 19.53 earnings per share for the current year.

Martin Marietta Materials Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Donald A. Mccunniff sold 1,332 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 5th. The stock was 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. This represents a 27.44 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, SVP Michael J. Petro bought 550 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 4th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $454.37 per share, for a total transaction of $249,903.50. Following the completion of the acquisition, the senior vice president now owns 8,985 shares in the company, valued at $4,082,514.45. This represents a 6.52 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 0.68% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have recently weighed in on MLM shares. Stifel Nicolaus started coverage on Martin Marietta Materials in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. They set a “buy” rating and a $559.00 price target on the stock. Raymond James reduced their target price on shares of Martin Marietta Materials from $630.00 to $600.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on shares of Martin Marietta Materials from $657.00 to $622.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. Stephens decreased their price objective on Martin Marietta Materials from $675.00 to $650.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, Seaport Res Ptn raised Martin Marietta Materials to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating, thirteen have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $628.64.

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.