AQR Capital Management LLC Reduces Position in Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. (NYSE:MLM)

AQR Capital Management LLC decreased its holdings in Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. (NYSE:MLM - Free Report) by 19.3% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 31,656 shares of the construction company's stock after selling 7,553 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC owned about 0.05% of Martin Marietta Materials worth $16,350,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Martin Marietta Materials by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 7,174,183 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $3,705,466,000 after buying an additional 36,531 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its position in shares of Martin Marietta Materials by 23.3% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 2,678,425 shares of the construction company's stock worth $1,441,663,000 after acquiring an additional 506,705 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Martin Marietta Materials by 11.7% during the fourth quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,819,744 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $939,898,000 after acquiring an additional 191,043 shares in the last quarter. Amundi boosted its holdings in shares of Martin Marietta Materials by 10.5% in the fourth quarter. Amundi now owns 1,562,146 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $808,005,000 after purchasing an additional 148,065 shares during the period. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Martin Marietta Materials by 2.2% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,472,411 shares of the construction company's stock worth $758,499,000 after purchasing an additional 32,082 shares in the last quarter. 95.04% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on Martin Marietta Materials from $561.00 to $576.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on Martin Marietta Materials from $559.00 to $609.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Seaport Res Ptn upgraded shares of Martin Marietta Materials to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. Stephens reduced their price target on shares of Martin Marietta Materials from $675.00 to $650.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, UBS Group downgraded shares of Martin Marietta Materials from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $491.00 price objective on the stock. in a research note on Monday, April 7th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $599.69.

Martin Marietta Materials Stock Up 0.0 %

Martin Marietta Materials stock traded up $0.05 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $541.61. The company's stock had a trading volume of 320,149 shares, compared to its average volume of 486,301. Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. has a 52-week low of $441.95 and a 52-week high of $633.23. The stock has a market capitalization of $32.65 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.75, a PEG ratio of 4.45 and a beta of 0.89. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56, a current ratio of 2.50 and a quick ratio of 1.40. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $491.51 and its 200-day simple moving average is $529.26.

Martin Marietta Materials (NYSE:MLM - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 30th. The construction company reported $1.90 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 business had revenue of $1.35 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.36 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.93 earnings per share. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 8.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. will post 19.53 EPS for the current year.

Martin Marietta Materials Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 3rd were issued a $0.79 dividend. This represents a $3.16 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.58%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 3rd. Martin Marietta Materials's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 18.20%.

Insider Activity at Martin Marietta Materials

In other Martin Marietta Materials 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 value of $632,700.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 3,523 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,673,425. This represents a 27.44 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, SVP Michael J. Petro bought 550 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 4th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $454.37 per share, with a total value of $249,903.50. Following the completion of the acquisition, the senior vice president now owns 8,985 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,082,514.45. This represents a 6.52 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 0.69% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.