Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. $MLM Shares Sold by Louisiana State Employees Retirement System

Louisiana State Employees Retirement System lessened its stake in Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. (NYSE:MLM) by 3.0% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 3,200 shares of the construction company’s stock after selling 100 shares during the quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System’s holdings in Martin Marietta Materials were worth $1,757,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. PDS Planning Inc raised its stake in shares of Martin Marietta Materials by 4.9% in the 1st quarter. PDS Planning Inc now owns 452 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $216,000 after purchasing an additional 21 shares in the last quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB raised its stake in shares of Martin Marietta Materials by 1.8% in the 2nd quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 1,205 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $661,000 after purchasing an additional 21 shares in the last quarter. First American Bank raised its stake in shares of Martin Marietta Materials by 1.3% in the 1st quarter. First American Bank now owns 1,966 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $940,000 after purchasing an additional 25 shares in the last quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. raised its stake in shares of Martin Marietta Materials by 25.8% in the 2nd quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. now owns 122 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $66,000 after purchasing an additional 25 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Trust Investment Advisors raised its stake in shares of Martin Marietta Materials by 1.4% in the 1st quarter. Trust Investment Advisors now owns 1,843 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $881,000 after purchasing an additional 26 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 95.04% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently weighed in on MLM. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of Martin Marietta Materials from $576.00 to $605.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, July 28th. Bank of America increased their price objective on shares of Martin Marietta Materials from $577.00 to $643.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 5th. Raymond James Financial increased their price objective on shares of Martin Marietta Materials from $600.00 to $645.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, August 8th. Stephens reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $700.00 price objective on shares of Martin Marietta Materials in a research note on Monday, August 4th. Finally, DA Davidson increased their price objective on shares of Martin Marietta Materials from $625.00 to $700.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, August 11th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have assigned a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $621.69.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Laree E. Perez sold 1,038 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $613.32, for a total transaction of $636,626.16. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 15,417 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,455,554.44. This trade represents a 6.31% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders own 0.69% of the company’s stock.

Martin Marietta Materials Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:MLM opened at $632.22 on Friday. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $615.86 and its two-hundred day moving average is $563.34. Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. has a 52 week low of $441.95 and a 52 week high of $640.00. The firm has a market capitalization of $38.13 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.06, a PEG ratio of 5.73 and a beta of 1.01. The company has a current ratio of 2.35, a quick ratio of 1.21 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56.

Martin Marietta Materials (NYSE:MLM) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 7th. The construction company reported $5.43 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $5.44 by ($0.01). The firm had revenue of $1.81 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.88 billion. Martin Marietta Materials had a net margin of 16.47% and a return on equity of 11.88%. Martin Marietta Materials’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $4.76 EPS. Martin Marietta Materials has set its FY 2025 guidance at EPS. Analysts anticipate that Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. will post 19.53 earnings per share for the current year.

Martin Marietta Materials Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 30th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 2nd were issued a dividend of $0.83 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, September 2nd. This is a positive change from Martin Marietta Materials’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.79. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.5%. Martin Marietta Materials’s payout ratio is 18.41%.

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.