Benjamin Edwards Inc. Sells 630 Shares of Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. (NYSE:MLM)

Key Points

• Benjamin Edwards Inc. reduced its stake in Martin Marietta Materials by 39.2%, selling 630 shares and now holding 979 shares valued at approximately $469,000.
• Hedge funds and institutional investors dominate ownership of Martin Marietta Materials, with significant increases in positions from firms such as GAMMA Investing LLC and JPMorgan Chase & Co.
• The company reported a quarterly dividend increase to $0.83 per share, which will be paid to investors on September 30th, reflecting a positive change from the previous dividend of $0.79.

Benjamin Edwards Inc. cut its position in Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. (NYSE:MLM - Free Report) by 39.2% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 979 shares of the construction company's stock after selling 630 shares during the period. Benjamin Edwards Inc.'s holdings in Martin Marietta Materials were worth $469,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of MLM. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its stake in shares of Martin Marietta Materials by 58,570.5% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 697,592 shares of the construction company's stock worth $333,540,000 after purchasing an additional 696,403 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its stake in shares of Martin Marietta Materials by 10.1% in the first quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 2,944,694 shares of the construction company's stock worth $1,407,947,000 after purchasing an additional 268,928 shares in the last quarter. Alkeon Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Martin Marietta Materials by 46.6% during the fourth quarter. Alkeon Capital Management LLC now owns 771,198 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $398,324,000 after acquiring an additional 245,000 shares in the last quarter. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. grew its stake in 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 acquiring an additional 185,731 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in Martin Marietta Materials by 2.3% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 7,342,358 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $3,510,602,000 after acquiring an additional 168,175 shares in the last quarter. 95.04% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Laree E. Perez sold 1,038 shares of Martin Marietta Materials stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $613.32, for a total transaction of $636,626.16. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 15,417 shares in the company, valued at $9,455,554.44. This trade represents a 6.31% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 0.69% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MLM has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed a "sector perform" rating and set a $525.00 target price (up from $515.00) on shares of Martin Marietta Materials in a research note on Friday, August 8th. DA Davidson raised their target price on shares of Martin Marietta Materials from $625.00 to $700.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, August 11th. Bank of America raised their target price on shares of Martin Marietta Materials from $577.00 to $643.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 5th. Raymond James Financial raised their target price on shares of Martin Marietta Materials from $600.00 to $645.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, August 8th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on shares of Martin Marietta Materials from $609.00 to $637.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Martin Marietta Materials has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $622.63.

Martin Marietta Materials Trading Down 0.5%

Shares of Martin Marietta Materials stock traded down $2.82 during trading on Friday, hitting $609.68. The stock had a trading volume of 302,898 shares, compared to its average volume of 430,962. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $567.83 and its 200-day simple moving average is $530.74. The stock has a market cap of $36.77 billion, a PE ratio of 33.81, a PEG ratio of 5.56 and a beta of 0.89. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56, a current ratio of 2.35 and a quick ratio of 1.21. Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. has a 12 month low of $441.95 and a 12 month high of $633.23.

Martin Marietta Materials (NYSE:MLM - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, August 7th. The construction company reported $5.43 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $5.44 by ($0.01). The firm had revenue of $1.81 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.88 billion. Martin Marietta Materials had a return on equity of 11.88% and a net margin of 16.47%. Martin Marietta Materials's revenue was up 2.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $4.76 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. will post 19.53 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Martin Marietta Materials Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 30th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 2nd will be issued a dividend of $0.83 per share. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.5%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 2nd. This is a positive change from Martin Marietta Materials's previous quarterly dividend of $0.79. Martin Marietta Materials's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 17.53%.

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.