BNP Paribas Financial Markets Cuts Position in Materion Co. (NYSE:MTRN)

BNP Paribas Financial Markets decreased its holdings in Materion Co. (NYSE:MTRN - Free Report) by 68.4% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 3,517 shares of the basic materials company's stock after selling 7,614 shares during the quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets' holdings in Materion were worth $348,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of MTRN. Barclays PLC grew its holdings in Materion by 356.9% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 34,877 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $3,902,000 after purchasing an additional 27,244 shares during the last quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC grew its holdings in Materion by 10.3% in the fourth quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 8,878 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $878,000 after purchasing an additional 828 shares during the last quarter. Inspire Investing LLC grew its holdings in Materion by 9.3% in the fourth quarter. Inspire Investing LLC now owns 4,049 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $400,000 after purchasing an additional 346 shares during the last quarter. KBC Group NV boosted its stake in shares of Materion by 54.5% during the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 882 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $87,000 after acquiring an additional 311 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Copeland Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Materion by 2.2% during the fourth quarter. Copeland Capital Management LLC now owns 412,795 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $40,817,000 after acquiring an additional 8,842 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.56% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, KeyCorp reaffirmed a "sector weight" rating on shares of Materion in a research note on Wednesday, May 7th.

Materion Price Performance

Shares of MTRN traded down $0.66 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $77.52. 154,488 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 107,164. The company has a quick ratio of 1.26, a current ratio of 3.19 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.61 billion, a PE ratio of 267.31 and a beta of 0.85. Materion Co. has a fifty-two week low of $69.10 and a fifty-two week high of $123.21. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $78.98 and a 200 day simple moving average of $92.97.

Materion (NYSE:MTRN - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 1st. The basic materials company reported $1.13 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.12 by $0.01. Materion had a return on equity of 12.42% and a net margin of 0.35%. The business had revenue of $420.33 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $396.83 million. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.96 earnings per share. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 9.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts predict that Materion Co. will post 5.5 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Materion Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 13th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 29th will be paid a $0.14 dividend. This represents a $0.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.72%. This is a positive change from Materion's previous quarterly dividend of $0.14. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 29th. Materion's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 112.00%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, VP Gregory R. Chemnitz sold 2,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $80.45, for a total value of $160,900.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 13,376 shares in the company, valued at $1,076,099.20. This trade represents a 13.01% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 2.60% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

About Materion

Materion Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, produces advanced engineered materials used in semiconductor, industrial, aerospace and defense, automotive, energy, consumer electronics, and telecom and data center in the United States, Asia, Europe, and internationally. The company operates in four segments: Performance Materials, Electronic Materials, Precision Optics, and Other.