Cetera Investment Advisers Purchases 847 Shares of Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. (NYSE:MLM)

Cetera Investment Advisers grew its stake in shares of Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. (NYSE:MLM - Free Report) by 10.0% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 9,282 shares of the construction company's stock after acquiring an additional 847 shares during the period. Cetera Investment Advisers' holdings in Martin Marietta Materials were worth $4,794,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Lee Danner & Bass Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Martin Marietta Materials in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Whipplewood Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Martin Marietta Materials in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Kestra Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Martin Marietta Materials in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Hopwood Financial Services Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Martin Marietta Materials in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $36,000. Finally, EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Martin Marietta Materials by 91.9% in the fourth quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 71 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $37,000 after buying an additional 34 shares in the last quarter. 95.04% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Martin Marietta Materials Price Performance

Shares of NYSE MLM traded up $11.65 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $564.51. 419,345 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 485,736. The stock's 50-day moving average price is $499.71 and its 200-day moving average price is $528.22. The stock has a market cap of $34.03 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.46, a PEG ratio of 4.45 and a beta of 0.89. Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. has a one year low of $441.95 and a one year high of $633.23. The company has a quick ratio of 1.40, a current ratio of 2.50 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56.

Martin Marietta Materials (NYSE:MLM - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 30th. The construction company reported $1.90 earnings per share 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 analysts' expectations of $1.36 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.93 earnings per share. Martin Marietta Materials's revenue for the quarter was up 8.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. will post 19.53 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Martin Marietta Materials Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Investors of record on Monday, June 2nd will be paid a $0.79 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 2nd. This represents a $3.16 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.56%. Martin Marietta Materials's dividend payout ratio is 18.20%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have commented on MLM shares. Stephens lowered their price objective on shares of Martin Marietta Materials from $675.00 to $650.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on shares of Martin Marietta Materials from $559.00 to $609.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. UBS Group upgraded shares of Martin Marietta Materials from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $548.00 to $634.00 in a research report on Friday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. downgraded shares of Martin Marietta Materials from an "overweight" rating to a "neutral" rating and lowered their price objective for the company from $640.00 to $560.00 in a research report on Wednesday, March 19th. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of Martin Marietta Materials from $561.00 to $576.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 6th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Martin Marietta Materials has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $610.69.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Donald A. Mccunniff sold 1,332 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 5th. The shares were 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 of the company's stock, valued at $1,673,425. The trade was a 27.44% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, SVP Michael J. Petro bought 550 shares of the company's 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 acquisition, the senior vice president now owns 8,985 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,082,514.45. This trade 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.

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.