Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. (NYSE:MLM) Stake Lessened by National Pension Service

National Pension Service cut its stake in Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. (NYSE:MLM) by 5.7% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 70,247 shares of the construction company’s stock after selling 4,268 shares during the quarter. National Pension Service owned approximately 0.11% of Martin Marietta Materials worth $36,283,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Franklin Street Advisors Inc. NC increased its stake in shares of Martin Marietta Materials by 15.5% in the fourth quarter. Franklin Street Advisors Inc. NC now owns 25,242 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $13,037,000 after acquiring an additional 3,384 shares during the last quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Martin Marietta Materials by 18.5% in 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 last quarter. RMR Wealth Builders increased its stake in shares of Martin Marietta Materials by 431.3% in 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 last quarter. Kovack Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Martin Marietta Materials in the third quarter worth $734,000. Finally, Benjamin Edwards Inc. increased its stake in shares of Martin Marietta Materials by 2,448.1% in the third quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. now owns 1,376 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $741,000 after acquiring an additional 1,322 shares during the last quarter. 95.04% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Martin Marietta Materials Trading Up 0.1 %

Shares of NYSE:MLM opened at $483.06 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $29.52 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.94, a P/E/G ratio of 4.45 and a beta of 0.91. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $526.15 and its 200-day moving average is $545.66. Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. has a 52-week low of $475.10 and a 52-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.

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

Martin Marietta Materials Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Monday, March 3rd will be paid a $0.79 dividend. This represents a $3.16 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.65%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 3rd. Martin Marietta Materials’s payout ratio is presently 9.77%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities 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 on the stock in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Barclays lowered their target price on shares of 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. 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. Loop Capital lowered their target price on shares of Martin Marietta Materials from $680.00 to $645.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, Stephens lowered their target price on shares of 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. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating, fourteen have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $639.43.

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.