Vestor Capital LLC Takes $4.51 Million Position in Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. (NYSE:MLM)

Vestor Capital LLC bought a new stake in Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. (NYSE:MLM) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund bought 8,730 shares of the construction company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,509,000.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC lifted its position in shares of Martin Marietta Materials by 2.5% in the third quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC now owns 782 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $421,000 after acquiring an additional 19 shares in the last quarter. Checchi Capital Advisers LLC increased its stake in Martin Marietta Materials by 1.4% in the fourth quarter. Checchi Capital Advisers LLC now owns 1,336 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $690,000 after purchasing an additional 19 shares during the last quarter. iA Global Asset Management Inc. increased its stake in Martin Marietta Materials by 3.6% in the third quarter. iA Global Asset Management Inc. now owns 570 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $307,000 after purchasing an additional 20 shares during the last quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group increased its stake in Martin Marietta Materials by 4.7% in the fourth quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group now owns 447 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $231,000 after purchasing an additional 20 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Financial Counselors Inc. increased its stake in Martin Marietta Materials by 1.9% in the third 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 last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 95.04% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other Martin Marietta Materials news, EVP Donald A. Mccunniff sold 1,332 shares of the firm’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 completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 3,523 shares in the company, valued at $1,673,425. This trade represents a 27.44 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, SVP Michael J. Petro acquired 550 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 4th. The shares were acquired 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 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. Insiders own 0.68% of the company’s stock.

Martin Marietta Materials Price Performance

MLM stock opened at $477.49 on Friday. 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, Inc. has a 1 year low of $448.50 and a 1 year high of $633.23. The firm has a market cap of $29.11 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.77, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.45 and a beta of 0.89. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $511.26 and a 200-day simple moving average of $539.18.

Martin Marietta Materials (NYSE:MLM) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The construction company reported $4.79 earnings per share (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%. On average, equities analysts predict that Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. will post 19.53 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Martin Marietta Materials Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 3rd will be paid a $0.79 dividend. 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 currently 9.77%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently commented on MLM. StockNews.com lowered Martin Marietta Materials from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 20th. Stephens dropped their target price on Martin Marietta Materials from $675.00 to $650.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Truist Financial dropped their target price on Martin Marietta Materials from $670.00 to $610.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Raymond James dropped their target price on Martin Marietta Materials from $630.00 to $600.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, BNP Paribas lowered Martin Marietta Materials from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating, thirteen have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Martin Marietta Materials presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $628.64.

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.