Pictet Asset Management Holding SA Has $32.35 Million Stock Position in Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. (NYSE:MLM)

Pictet Asset Management Holding SA grew its holdings in shares of Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. (NYSE:MLM) by 16.1% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 62,626 shares of the construction company’s stock after purchasing an additional 8,704 shares during the period. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA’s holdings in Martin Marietta Materials were worth $32,346,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of MLM. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its position in Martin Marietta Materials by 76.2% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,628,701 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $876,648,000 after purchasing an additional 704,460 shares during the last quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP bought a new position in shares of Martin Marietta Materials during the third quarter worth about $611,000. Townsquare Capital LLC lifted its stake in shares of Martin Marietta Materials by 16.3% in the third quarter. Townsquare Capital LLC now owns 3,650 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $1,965,000 after acquiring an additional 511 shares during the period. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC boosted its holdings in Martin Marietta Materials by 2.8% in the third quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 279,861 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $150,635,000 after acquiring an additional 7,752 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Financial Counselors Inc. increased its position in Martin Marietta Materials by 1.9% during the 3rd quarter. Financial Counselors Inc. now owns 1,123 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $604,000 after purchasing an additional 21 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 95.04% of the company’s stock.

Martin Marietta Materials Price Performance

MLM stock opened at $477.92 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $29.14 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.78, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.45 and a beta of 0.89. Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. has a 52-week low of $448.50 and a 52-week high of $633.23. The business 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 debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56, a quick ratio of 1.40 and a current ratio of 2.50.

Martin Marietta Materials (NYSE:MLM) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The construction company reported $4.79 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.62 by $0.17. Martin Marietta Materials had a return on equity of 12.11% and a net margin of 30.54%. Research analysts expect 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. Investors of record on Monday, March 3rd will be given 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 of this dividend is Monday, March 3rd. Martin Marietta Materials’s payout ratio is currently 9.77%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. HSBC upgraded shares of Martin Marietta Materials from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $690.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. Wolfe Research raised shares of Martin Marietta Materials from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $563.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Truist Financial lowered their price objective on Martin Marietta Materials from $670.00 to $610.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Barclays cut their target price on Martin Marietta Materials from $645.00 to $600.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, Citigroup lowered their target price on Martin Marietta Materials from $701.00 to $600.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, January 6th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating, thirteen have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $628.64.

Insider Buying and Selling

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 value of $632,700.00. Following the completion of 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 transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, SVP Michael J. Petro purchased 550 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 4th. The shares were acquired 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 directly owns 8,985 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,082,514.45. This trade represents a 6.52 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 0.68% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.