Grunden Financial Advisory Inc. Makes New Investment in Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. (NYSE:MLM)

Grunden Financial Advisory Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. (NYSE:MLM) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 425 shares of the construction company’s stock, valued at approximately $212,000. Martin Marietta Materials makes up about 0.1% of Grunden Financial Advisory Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 24th biggest position.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Pinnacle Bancorp Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Martin Marietta Materials during the fourth quarter worth about $26,000. MV Capital Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Martin Marietta Materials by 144.4% in the third quarter. MV Capital Management Inc. now owns 66 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $27,000 after acquiring an additional 39 shares in the last quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC acquired a new position in shares of Martin Marietta Materials in the fourth quarter worth about $27,000. Householder Group Estate & Retirement Specialist LLC acquired a new position in shares of Martin Marietta Materials in the third quarter worth about $30,000. Finally, Covestor Ltd lifted its stake in shares of Martin Marietta Materials by 84.6% in the third quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 72 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $30,000 after acquiring an additional 33 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 95.04% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Roselyn R. Bar sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $603.29, for a total transaction of $6,032,900.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 59,970 shares in the company, valued at approximately $36,179,301.30. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In other Martin Marietta Materials news, Director Sue W. Cole sold 1,724 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $543.48, for a total transaction of $936,959.52. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 19,793 shares in the company, valued at $10,757,099.64. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Roselyn R. Bar sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $603.29, for a total value of $6,032,900.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 59,970 shares in the company, valued at $36,179,301.30. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 26,724 shares of company stock worth $16,033,760 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.61% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts recently commented on the company. StockNews.com cut Martin Marietta Materials from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, February 9th. Stephens boosted their price objective on Martin Marietta Materials from $575.00 to $605.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, February 16th. Truist Financial boosted their price objective on Martin Marietta Materials from $610.00 to $700.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 2nd. HSBC raised Martin Marietta Materials from a “reduce” rating to a “hold” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $376.00 to $543.00 in a report on Thursday, February 22nd. Finally, Citigroup boosted their price objective on Martin Marietta Materials from $635.00 to $708.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, April 5th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Martin Marietta Materials presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $588.69.

Martin Marietta Materials Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:MLM traded down $5.79 during trading on Thursday, hitting $587.13. 539,182 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 402,533. The stock has a market capitalization of $36.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.18, a PEG ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 0.96. The business’s fifty day moving average is $585.17 and its 200-day moving average is $508.20. Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. has a one year low of $343.79 and a one year high of $626.67. The company has a quick ratio of 2.50, a current ratio of 3.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49.

Martin Marietta Materials (NYSE:MLM) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 14th. The construction company reported $4.63 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.96 by $0.67. Martin Marietta Materials had a return on equity of 15.77% and a net margin of 17.25%. The business had revenue of $1.61 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.62 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $3.04 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts predict that Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. will post 21.23 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Martin Marietta Materials Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 28th. Investors of record on Monday, March 4th were issued a $0.74 dividend. This represents a $2.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.50%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 1st. Martin Marietta Materials’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 15.72%.

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.