Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. $MLM Shares Sold by Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund

Key Points

• Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund significantly reduced its stake in Martin Marietta Materials, dropping its holdings by 88.9% to just 1,100 shares, valued at $526,000.
• In the last quarter, several hedge funds, including Mariner LLC and Jump Financial LLC, increased their positions in Martin Marietta, indicating ongoing interest from institutional investors who collectively own 95.04% of the company's stock.
• Martin Marietta recently announced an increased quarterly dividend, raising it from $0.79 to $0.83 per share, reflecting a commitment to returning value to shareholders.

Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund trimmed its position in shares of Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. (NYSE:MLM - Free Report) by 88.9% during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 1,100 shares of the construction company's stock after selling 8,800 shares during the period. Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund's holdings in Martin Marietta Materials were worth $526,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in MLM. OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Martin Marietta Materials by 1.9% in the fourth quarter. OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 1,020 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $527,000 after buying an additional 19 shares in the last quarter. Net Worth Advisory Group increased its position in shares of Martin Marietta Materials by 2.2% in the first quarter. Net Worth Advisory Group now owns 993 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $475,000 after buying an additional 21 shares in the last quarter. PDS Planning Inc increased its position in shares of Martin Marietta Materials by 4.9% in the first quarter. PDS Planning Inc now owns 452 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $216,000 after buying an additional 21 shares in the last quarter. Financial Management Professionals Inc. increased its position in shares of Martin Marietta Materials by 3.5% in the first quarter. Financial Management Professionals Inc. now owns 652 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $312,000 after buying an additional 22 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP increased its position in shares of Martin Marietta Materials by 5.4% in the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 448 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $231,000 after buying an additional 23 shares in the last quarter. 95.04% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Stephens restated an "overweight" rating and issued a $700.00 price target on shares of Martin Marietta Materials in a research report on Monday, August 4th. DA Davidson lifted their price objective on Martin Marietta Materials from $625.00 to $700.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, August 11th. Raymond James Financial lifted their price objective on Martin Marietta Materials from $600.00 to $645.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, August 8th. UBS Group upgraded Martin Marietta Materials from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $548.00 to $634.00 in a research report on Friday, May 16th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective 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. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have issued a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $622.63.

Insider Buying and Selling at Martin Marietta Materials

In other news, Director Laree E. Perez sold 1,038 shares of Martin Marietta Materials stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $613.32, for a total value of $636,626.16. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 15,417 shares of the company's stock, valued at $9,455,554.44. The trade was a 6.31% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. 0.69% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Martin Marietta Materials Trading Up 1.0%

MLM traded up $6.3050 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $607.0450. The company's stock had a trading volume of 175,024 shares, compared to its average volume of 477,388. The company has a current ratio of 2.35, a quick ratio of 1.21 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56. The firm has a market cap of $36.61 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.68, a PEG ratio of 5.48 and a beta of 0.89. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $571.88 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $532.49. Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. has a 52-week low of $441.95 and a 52-week high of $633.23.

Martin Marietta Materials (NYSE:MLM - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 7th. The construction company reported $5.43 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $5.44 by ($0.01). The business had revenue of $1.81 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.88 billion. Martin Marietta Materials had a net margin of 16.47% and a return on equity of 11.88%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 2.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $4.76 EPS. Martin Marietta Materials has set its FY 2025 guidance at EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. will post 19.53 earnings per share for the current year.

Martin Marietta Materials Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 30th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 2nd will be paid a $0.83 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 2nd. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.5%. This is an increase from Martin Marietta Materials's previous quarterly dividend of $0.79. Martin Marietta Materials's dividend payout ratio is presently 17.53%.

Martin Marietta Materials Company 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.