Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. (NYSE:MLM) Shares Sold by Ancora Advisors LLC

Ancora Advisors LLC decreased its holdings in Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. (NYSE:MLM) by 4.0% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 11,241 shares of the construction company’s stock after selling 463 shares during the quarter. Ancora Advisors LLC’s holdings in Martin Marietta Materials were worth $5,806,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Franklin Street Advisors Inc. NC grew its stake in Martin Marietta Materials by 15.5% during the 4th quarter. Franklin Street Advisors Inc. NC now owns 25,242 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $13,037,000 after purchasing an additional 3,384 shares in the last quarter. RMR Wealth Builders boosted its stake in shares of Martin Marietta Materials by 431.3% in the 4th quarter. RMR Wealth Builders now owns 2,391 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $1,235,000 after buying an additional 1,941 shares during the period. InTrack Investment Management Inc grew its position in shares of Martin Marietta Materials by 33.9% during the fourth quarter. InTrack Investment Management Inc now owns 3,446 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $1,784,000 after buying an additional 872 shares in the last quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp increased its stake in shares of Martin Marietta Materials by 24.6% during the fourth quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 7,005 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $3,618,000 after buying an additional 1,382 shares during the period. Finally, Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC raised its holdings in Martin Marietta Materials by 64.6% in the fourth quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 2,028 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $1,047,000 after acquiring an additional 796 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 95.04% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have commented on the stock. Citigroup lowered their price target on shares of Martin Marietta Materials from $701.00 to $600.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, January 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. downgraded shares of Martin Marietta Materials from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their target price for the stock from $640.00 to $560.00 in a research note on Wednesday, March 19th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target on Martin Marietta Materials from $559.00 to $609.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday. UBS Group downgraded Martin Marietta Materials from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $491.00 price target for the company. in a report on Monday, April 7th. Finally, Barclays dropped 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. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, eleven have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $603.23.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Donald A. Mccunniff sold 1,332 shares of the company’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 represents a 27.44 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, SVP Michael J. Petro acquired 550 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 4th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $454.37 per share, for a total transaction of $249,903.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 8,985 shares in the company, 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. 0.68% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Martin Marietta Materials Price Performance

MLM stock opened at $536.61 on Friday. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $485.33 and a 200-day simple moving average of $530.36. The company has a market capitalization of $32.52 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.60, a PEG ratio of 4.45 and a beta of 0.81. Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. has a twelve month low of $441.95 and a twelve month high of $633.23. The company has a current ratio of 2.50, a quick ratio of 1.40 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56.

Martin Marietta Materials (NYSE:MLM) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 30th. The construction company reported $1.90 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.88 by $0.02. Martin Marietta Materials had a net margin of 30.54% and a return on equity of 12.11%. The company had revenue of $1.35 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.36 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.93 EPS. Martin Marietta Materials’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. will post 19.53 EPS for the current year.

Martin Marietta Materials Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 3rd were paid a dividend of $0.79 per share. This represents a $3.16 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.59%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 3rd. Martin Marietta Materials’s dividend payout ratio is presently 9.77%.

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.