Deutsche Bank AG Acquires 31,264 Shares of Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. (NYSE:MLM)

Key Points

• Deutsche Bank AG has increased its stake in Martin Marietta Materials by 14.3%, owning 249,374 shares valued at approximately $119.2 million.
• Analysts' outlook is positive, with various firms raising target prices for Martin Marietta from a range of $577 to $700, resulting in a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy".
• Martin Marietta reported a quarterly EPS of $5.43, slightly missing the consensus estimate, with revenues reaching $1.81 billion, up 2.7% from the previous year.

Deutsche Bank AG boosted its position in Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. (NYSE:MLM - Free Report) by 14.3% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 249,374 shares of the construction company's stock after acquiring an additional 31,264 shares during the period. Deutsche Bank AG owned 0.41% of Martin Marietta Materials worth $119,233,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its position in Martin Marietta Materials by 58,570.5% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 697,592 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $333,540,000 after buying an additional 696,403 shares during the last quarter. Alkeon Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Martin Marietta Materials by 46.6% in the 4th quarter. Alkeon Capital Management LLC now owns 771,198 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $398,324,000 after buying an additional 245,000 shares in the last quarter. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Martin Marietta Materials by 39.2% during the 1st 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 during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Martin Marietta Materials by 2.3% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 7,342,358 shares of the construction company's stock worth $3,510,602,000 after buying an additional 168,175 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Martin Marietta Materials by 6.6% during the 1st quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,940,423 shares of the construction company's stock worth $927,775,000 after buying an additional 120,679 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 95.04% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Laree E. Perez sold 1,038 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $613.32, for a total value of $636,626.16. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 15,417 shares in the company, valued at $9,455,554.44. This trade represents a 6.31% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 0.68% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Martin Marietta Materials Stock Up 2.8%

Martin Marietta Materials stock traded up $16.71 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $616.64. 477,943 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 430,598. The company's 50-day moving average is $563.99 and its two-hundred day moving average is $529.26. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56, a quick ratio of 1.21 and a current ratio of 2.35. Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. has a 52-week low of $441.95 and a 52-week high of $633.23. The firm has a market cap of $37.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.20, a PEG ratio of 5.46 and a beta of 0.89.

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

Martin Marietta Materials Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 2nd were issued a $0.79 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 2nd. This represents a $3.16 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.5%. Martin Marietta Materials's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 17.53%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently commented on MLM shares. Stephens reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and set a $700.00 target price on shares of Martin Marietta Materials in a research note on Monday, August 4th. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on Martin Marietta Materials from $576.00 to $605.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday, July 28th. UBS Group raised Martin Marietta Materials from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and boosted their target price for the company from $548.00 to $634.00 in a research note on Friday, May 16th. DA Davidson upped their target price on Martin Marietta Materials from $625.00 to $700.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Monday. Finally, Raymond James Financial upped their price target on Martin Marietta Materials from $600.00 to $645.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen 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 presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $622.63.

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.