34,838 Shares in Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. (NYSE:MLM) Bought by Woodline Partners LP

Woodline Partners LP acquired a new position in shares of Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. (NYSE:MLM - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 34,838 shares of the construction company's stock, valued at approximately $17,994,000. Woodline Partners LP owned about 0.06% of Martin Marietta Materials at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Checchi Capital Advisers LLC lifted its stake in Martin Marietta Materials by 1.4% in the fourth quarter. Checchi Capital Advisers LLC now owns 1,336 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $690,000 after buying an additional 19 shares during the last quarter. OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Martin Marietta Materials by 1.9% in the fourth quarter. OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 1,020 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $527,000 after buying an additional 19 shares during the last quarter. OLD National Bancorp IN lifted its stake in Martin Marietta Materials by 4.5% in the fourth quarter. OLD National Bancorp IN now owns 483 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $249,000 after buying an additional 21 shares during the last quarter. Signaturefd LLC lifted its stake in Martin Marietta Materials by 2.6% in the fourth quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 835 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $431,000 after buying an additional 21 shares during the last quarter. Finally, LexAurum Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Martin Marietta Materials by 3.8% in the fourth quarter. LexAurum Advisors LLC now owns 633 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $327,000 after buying an additional 23 shares during the last quarter. 95.04% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have issued reports on MLM. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut Martin Marietta Materials from an "overweight" rating to a "neutral" rating and cut their target price for the company from $640.00 to $560.00 in a research note on Wednesday, March 19th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on Martin Marietta Materials from $559.00 to $609.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Barclays cut their target price on Martin Marietta Materials from $645.00 to $600.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Raymond James cut their price objective on shares of Martin Marietta Materials from $600.00 to $597.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 29th. Finally, UBS Group upgraded shares of Martin Marietta Materials from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $548.00 to $634.00 in a research note on Friday, May 16th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Martin Marietta Materials presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $610.69.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Donald A. Mccunniff sold 1,332 shares of Martin Marietta Materials stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $475.00, for a total value of $632,700.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 3,523 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,673,425. This trade represents a 27.44% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Michael J. Petro purchased 550 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 4th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $454.37 per share, for a total transaction of $249,903.50. Following the purchase, the senior vice president now directly owns 8,985 shares in the company, valued at $4,082,514.45. This represents a 6.52% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 0.69% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Martin Marietta Materials Price Performance

NYSE:MLM opened at $560.31 on Thursday. The business's 50-day moving average price is $505.40 and its 200 day moving average price is $528.16. The firm has a market cap of $33.78 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.33, a PEG ratio of 4.45 and a beta of 0.89. Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. has a 52-week low of $441.95 and a 52-week 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 released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The construction company reported $1.90 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.88 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $1.35 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.36 billion. Martin Marietta Materials had a return on equity of 12.11% and a net margin of 30.54%. Martin Marietta Materials's revenue was up 8.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.93 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. will post 19.53 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Martin Marietta Materials Dividend Announcement

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

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.

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