Daiwa Securities Group Inc. Increases Position in Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. (NYSE:MLM)

Daiwa Securities Group Inc. raised its holdings in Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. (NYSE:MLM) by 18.9% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 19,227 shares of the construction company’s stock after buying an additional 3,063 shares during the period. Daiwa Securities Group Inc.’s holdings in Martin Marietta Materials were worth $9,931,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the business. Whipplewood Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Martin Marietta Materials in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Kestra Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in Martin Marietta Materials in the 4th quarter valued at $35,000. Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Martin Marietta Materials in the 4th quarter worth $41,000. R Squared Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Martin Marietta Materials during the 4th quarter worth $41,000. Finally, Midwest Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Martin Marietta Materials during the 4th quarter valued at about $47,000. 95.04% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Donald A. Mccunniff sold 1,332 shares of the company’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 transaction of $632,700.00. Following the sale, 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 ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, SVP Michael J. Petro purchased 550 shares of the firm’s 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 purchase, the senior vice president now directly owns 8,985 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,082,514.45. The trade was a 6.52 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders own 0.68% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Wolfe Research upgraded shares of Martin Marietta Materials from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $563.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Truist Financial cut their price target on shares of Martin Marietta Materials from $670.00 to $610.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Barclays decreased their price objective on Martin Marietta Materials from $645.00 to $600.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 13th. StockNews.com cut Martin Marietta Materials from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 20th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus initiated coverage on Martin Marietta Materials in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $559.00 price target on the stock. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating, fourteen have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Martin Marietta Materials currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $634.36.

Martin Marietta Materials Stock Performance

NYSE MLM opened at $464.59 on Wednesday. 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 market cap of $28.33 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.37, a P/E/G ratio of 4.45 and a beta of 0.89. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $516.77 and a two-hundred day moving average of $542.07. Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. has a 1-year low of $448.50 and a 1-year high of $633.23.

Martin Marietta Materials (NYSE:MLM) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 12th. The construction company reported $4.79 EPS 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%. As a group, analysts anticipate that Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. will post 19.53 EPS 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. This represents a $3.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.68%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 3rd. Martin Marietta Materials’s dividend payout ratio is currently 9.77%.

Martin Marietta Materials Company 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.