Assetmark Inc. Decreases Stake in Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. (NYSE:MLM)

Key Points

• Assetmark Inc. has reduced its stake in Martin Marietta Materials by 34.7%, owning 21,964 shares after selling 11,660 shares in the first quarter.
• Despite the decrease from Assetmark Inc., other institutional investors like the Teacher Retirement System of Texas and LPL Financial have increased their holdings in Martin Marietta Materials during the fourth quarter.
• The company's recent quarterly earnings report showed an EPS of $1.90, outperforming consensus estimates and indicating an 8.2% revenue growth compared to the same quarter last year.

Assetmark Inc. lessened its position in shares of Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. (NYSE:MLM - Free Report) by 34.7% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 21,964 shares of the construction company's stock after selling 11,660 shares during the period. Assetmark Inc.'s holdings in Martin Marietta Materials were worth $10,502,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of MLM. Teacher Retirement System of Texas increased its holdings in Martin Marietta Materials by 38.5% in the fourth quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas now owns 572 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $295,000 after buying an additional 159 shares during the last quarter. LPL Financial LLC boosted its position in shares of Martin Marietta Materials by 4.8% during the 4th quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 38,602 shares of the construction company's stock worth $19,938,000 after acquiring an additional 1,776 shares in the last quarter. Korea Investment CORP increased its holdings in shares of Martin Marietta Materials by 13.3% in the 4th quarter. Korea Investment CORP now owns 40,290 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $20,810,000 after acquiring an additional 4,730 shares during the last quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. raised its position in shares of Martin Marietta Materials by 9.8% during the 4th quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 96,634 shares of the construction company's stock worth $49,928,000 after acquiring an additional 8,639 shares in the last quarter. Finally, UniSuper Management Pty Ltd lifted its stake in Martin Marietta Materials by 22.9% during the fourth quarter. UniSuper Management Pty Ltd now owns 5,773 shares of the construction company's stock worth $2,982,000 after purchasing an additional 1,074 shares during the last quarter. 95.04% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Martin Marietta Materials Stock Performance

Shares of MLM stock opened at $586.01 on Friday. Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. has a 52-week low of $441.95 and a 52-week high of $633.23. The stock's 50-day moving average price is $555.14 and its 200 day moving average price is $524.27. The company has a quick ratio of 0.99, a current ratio of 2.25 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58. The stock has a market capitalization of $35.32 billion, a PE ratio of 33.76, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.33 and a beta of 0.87.

Martin Marietta Materials (NYSE:MLM - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results 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 return on equity of 12.01% and a net margin of 16.07%. The business had revenue of $1.35 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.36 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.93 earnings per share. The company's quarterly revenue was up 8.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. will post 19.53 EPS for the current year.

Martin Marietta Materials Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 2nd were issued a $0.79 dividend. This represents a $3.16 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.54%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 2nd. Martin Marietta Materials's payout ratio is 18.20%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have commented on the stock. UBS Group upgraded shares of Martin Marietta Materials from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and increased their price target for the company from $548.00 to $634.00 in a research note on Friday, May 16th. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of Martin Marietta Materials from $561.00 to $576.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, May 6th. Royal Bank Of Canada began coverage on shares of Martin Marietta Materials in a research note on Monday, June 16th. They set a "sector perform" rating and a $515.00 price target on the stock. Loop Capital reduced their price target on shares of Martin Marietta Materials from $645.00 to $615.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 1st. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on Martin Marietta Materials from $559.00 to $609.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $603.86.

Martin Marietta Materials 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.

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