AdvisorShares Investments LLC Makes New $418,000 Investment in Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. (NYSE:MLM)

AdvisorShares Investments LLC bought a new position in shares of Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. (NYSE:MLM - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund bought 810 shares of the construction company's stock, valued at approximately $418,000.

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

Martin Marietta Materials Stock Performance

Shares of MLM traded up $13.73 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $536.61. 386,424 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 485,352. 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 $441.95 and a 1-year high of $633.23. The business's 50 day moving average price is $485.33 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $530.36. The firm has a market capitalization of $32.35 billion, a PE ratio of 16.60, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.45 and a beta of 0.89.

Martin Marietta Materials (NYSE:MLM - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The construction company reported $1.90 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates 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 firm had revenue of $1.35 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.36 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.93 EPS. Martin Marietta Materials's revenue was up 8.2% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts predict that Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. will post 19.53 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Martin Marietta Materials Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced 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 was Monday, March 3rd. Martin Marietta Materials's payout ratio is currently 18.20%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, SVP Michael J. Petro acquired 550 shares of Martin Marietta Materials stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 4th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $454.37 per share, with a total value of $249,903.50. Following the completion of the acquisition, the senior vice president now directly owns 8,985 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,082,514.45. This trade represents a 6.52 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Donald A. Mccunniff sold 1,332 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $475.00, for a total transaction of $632,700.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 3,523 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,673,425. This represents a 27.44 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.68% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on MLM. Wolfe Research raised shares of Martin Marietta Materials from a "peer perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $563.00 price target for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on shares of Martin Marietta Materials from $559.00 to $609.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday. Truist Financial reduced their price target on shares of Martin Marietta Materials from $670.00 to $610.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. UBS Group lowered Martin Marietta Materials from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $491.00 price objective for the company. in a report on Monday, April 7th. Finally, Stephens cut their price objective on Martin Marietta Materials from $675.00 to $650.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, eleven have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $603.23.

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.