Pacer Advisors Inc. Sells 286 Shares of Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. (NYSE:MLM)

Pacer Advisors Inc. reduced its position in Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. (NYSE:MLM) by 5.0% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 5,445 shares of the construction company’s stock after selling 286 shares during the period. Pacer Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Martin Marietta Materials were worth $2,812,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its stake in Martin Marietta Materials by 76.2% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,628,701 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $876,648,000 after acquiring an additional 704,460 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its position in shares of Martin Marietta Materials by 23.3% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 2,678,425 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $1,441,663,000 after purchasing an additional 506,705 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC grew its stake in Martin Marietta Materials by 15.3% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 2,515,441 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $1,353,936,000 after buying an additional 334,605 shares during the last quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board increased its position in Martin Marietta Materials by 7,608.2% during the 3rd quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 181,373 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $97,624,000 after buying an additional 179,020 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. raised its stake in Martin Marietta Materials by 54.2% in the third quarter. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. now owns 467,782 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $251,784,000 after buying an additional 164,503 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 95.04% of the company’s stock.

Martin Marietta Materials Trading Down 0.4 %

Shares of Martin Marietta Materials stock opened at $543.92 on Friday. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $546.41 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $551.21. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a quick ratio of 1.24 and a current ratio of 2.34. Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $490.05 and a fifty-two week high of $633.23. The company has a market cap of $33.24 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.95, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.57 and a beta of 0.91.

Martin Marietta Materials (NYSE:MLM) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The construction company reported $5.91 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.41 by ($0.50). The business had revenue of $1.89 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.94 billion. Martin Marietta Materials had a return on equity of 12.53% and a net margin of 30.47%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 5.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $6.94 EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. will post 17.57 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Martin Marietta Materials Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Investors of record on Monday, December 2nd were paid a $0.79 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 2nd. This represents a $3.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.58%. Martin Marietta Materials’s dividend payout ratio is currently 9.85%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on Martin Marietta Materials from $657.00 to $622.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. 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 note on Wednesday, December 11th. Citigroup dropped their price objective on shares of Martin Marietta Materials from $701.00 to $600.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, January 6th. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their target price on Martin Marietta Materials from $650.00 to $635.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. Finally, Barclays increased their price objective on Martin Marietta Materials from $595.00 to $645.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 29th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating, fourteen have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $648.71.

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.