Assenagon Asset Management S.A. Reduces Position in Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. (NYSE:MLM)

Assenagon Asset Management S.A. reduced its position in shares of Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. (NYSE:MLM - Free Report) by 92.3% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 2,449 shares of the construction company's stock after selling 29,387 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A.'s holdings in Martin Marietta Materials were worth $1,171,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Empowered Funds LLC boosted its position in Martin Marietta Materials by 14.1% during the fourth quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 1,264 shares of the construction company's stock worth $653,000 after acquiring an additional 156 shares during the last quarter. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Martin Marietta Materials by 5.3% during the 4th quarter. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC now owns 861 shares of the construction company's stock worth $445,000 after purchasing an additional 43 shares during the period. Principal Securities Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Martin Marietta Materials by 3.7% during the fourth quarter. Principal Securities Inc. now owns 2,137 shares of the construction company's stock worth $1,104,000 after purchasing an additional 77 shares during the last quarter. Allworth Financial LP boosted its holdings in shares of Martin Marietta Materials by 45.8% during the fourth quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 1,165 shares of the construction company's stock worth $641,000 after purchasing an additional 366 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Empower Advisory Group LLC grew its position in shares of Martin Marietta Materials by 12.4% in the fourth quarter. Empower Advisory Group LLC now owns 427 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $221,000 after purchasing an additional 47 shares during the period. 95.04% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have issued reports on the company. Loop Capital decreased their price target on Martin Marietta Materials from $645.00 to $615.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered shares of Martin Marietta Materials from an "overweight" rating to a "neutral" rating and cut their price objective for the stock from $640.00 to $560.00 in a report on Wednesday, March 19th. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of Martin Marietta Materials from $561.00 to $576.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 6th. Royal Bank Of Canada assumed coverage on shares of Martin Marietta Materials in a research report on Monday. They set a "sector perform" rating and a $515.00 price target for the company. Finally, Seaport Res Ptn raised shares of Martin Marietta Materials to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Friday, March 21st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Martin Marietta Materials currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $603.86.

Martin Marietta Materials Stock Down 0.5%

NYSE MLM traded down $2.93 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $538.46. The company had a trading volume of 373,071 shares, compared to its average volume of 484,927. The firm's 50 day moving average is $533.79 and its 200 day moving average is $521.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58, a current ratio of 2.25 and a quick ratio of 0.99. Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $441.95 and a fifty-two week high of $633.23. The company has a market capitalization of $32.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.02, a P/E/G ratio of 4.91 and a beta of 0.89.

Martin Marietta Materials (NYSE:MLM - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results 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. The company had revenue of $1.35 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.36 billion. Martin Marietta Materials had a return on equity of 12.01% and a net margin of 16.07%. The company's revenue was up 8.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.93 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts anticipate 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. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 2nd will be paid a $0.79 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 2nd. This represents a $3.16 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.59%. Martin Marietta Materials's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 18.20%.

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.