Assetmark Inc. Sells 11,660 Shares of 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. decreased its position in shares of Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. (NYSE:MLM - Free Report) by 34.7% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund 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 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Cetera Investment Advisers raised its position in shares of Martin Marietta Materials by 27.7% during the first quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 11,854 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $5,668,000 after buying an additional 2,572 shares during the last quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. raised its position in shares of Martin Marietta Materials by 14.1% during the first quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. now owns 1,505 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $720,000 after buying an additional 186 shares during the last quarter. Jackson Hole Capital Partners LLC raised its position in shares of Martin Marietta Materials by 20.9% during the first quarter. Jackson Hole Capital Partners LLC now owns 4,706 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $2,250,000 after buying an additional 814 shares during the last quarter. Kovack Advisors Inc. raised its position in shares of Martin Marietta Materials by 111.5% during the first quarter. Kovack Advisors Inc. now owns 2,777 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $1,328,000 after buying an additional 1,464 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Martin Marietta Materials by 39.2% during the first quarter. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. now owns 659,363 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $315,261,000 after buying an additional 185,731 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 95.04% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Loop Capital dropped 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. Royal Bank Of Canada assumed coverage on shares of Martin Marietta Materials in a research report on Monday, June 16th. They issued a "sector perform" rating and a $515.00 price target for the company. UBS Group raised shares of Martin Marietta Materials from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and increased their price target for the stock from $548.00 to $634.00 in a research report on Friday, May 16th. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on shares of Martin Marietta Materials from $576.00 to $605.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday. Finally, Raymond James Financial dropped their price objective on shares of Martin Marietta Materials from $600.00 to $597.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 29th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $605.93.

Martin Marietta Materials Price Performance

Shares of MLM traded down $2.77 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $577.16. 54,989 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 478,264. Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. has a one year low of $441.95 and a one year high of $633.23. The company has a current ratio of 2.25, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58. The business has a 50-day moving average of $555.63 and a 200 day moving average of $525.17. The stock has a market capitalization of $34.79 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.28, a PEG ratio of 5.26 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, beating the consensus estimate of $1.88 by $0.02. Martin Marietta Materials had a net margin of 16.07% and a return on equity of 12.01%. The business had revenue of $1.35 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.36 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.93 earnings per share. Martin Marietta Materials's revenue was up 8.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts expect that Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. will post 19.53 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Martin Marietta Materials Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 30th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 2nd were paid a $0.79 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 2nd. This represents a $3.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.55%. Martin Marietta Materials's payout ratio is presently 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.