Goldman Sachs Group Inc. Reduces Stake in Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. (NYSE:MLM)

Key Points

• Goldman Sachs Group Inc. has reduced its holdings in Martin Marietta Materials, owning 939,134 shares valued at approximately $449.03 million after a decrease of 3.8% in the first quarter.
• Martin Marietta Materials reported earnings per share (EPS) of $5.43 for the last quarter, slightly missing analysts' expectations by $0.01, while revenue was up 2.7% year-over-year despite falling short of estimates.
• The company recently declared a quarterly dividend of $0.79 per share, with a current dividend yield of 0.5% and a payout ratio of 18.20%.

Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lowered its stake in shares of Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. (NYSE:MLM - Free Report) by 3.8% during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 939,134 shares of the construction company's stock after selling 37,572 shares during the period. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. owned 1.56% of Martin Marietta Materials worth $449,028,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MLM. Wayfinding Financial LLC purchased a new stake in Martin Marietta Materials in the first quarter valued at $29,000. Chilton Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in Martin Marietta Materials in the first quarter valued at $30,000. IMA Advisory Services Inc. purchased a new stake in Martin Marietta Materials in the first quarter valued at $40,000. Valley National Advisers Inc. raised its position in Martin Marietta Materials by 193.9% in the first quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. now owns 97 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $45,000 after purchasing an additional 64 shares during the period. Finally, Bellwether Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Martin Marietta Materials in the fourth quarter valued at $46,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 95.04% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MLM has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Bank of America lifted their target price on Martin Marietta Materials from $577.00 to $643.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 5th. Stephens restated an "overweight" rating and issued a $700.00 target price on shares of Martin Marietta Materials in a research report on Monday, August 4th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on Martin Marietta Materials from $559.00 to $609.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Raymond James Financial boosted their price objective on Martin Marietta Materials from $600.00 to $645.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded Martin Marietta Materials from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $615.60.

Martin Marietta Materials Stock Up 2.0%

NYSE MLM traded up $11.79 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $612.09. 526,226 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 413,897. The company has a 50 day moving average of $561.39 and a two-hundred day moving average of $528.42. The company has a quick ratio of 0.99, a current ratio of 2.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56. 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 $36.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.95, a PEG ratio of 5.59 and a beta of 0.89.

Martin Marietta Materials (NYSE:MLM - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 7th. The construction company reported $5.43 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $5.44 by ($0.01). Martin Marietta Materials had a return on equity of 11.88% and a net margin of 16.47%. The company had revenue of $1.81 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.88 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $4.76 EPS. Martin Marietta Materials's revenue for the quarter was up 2.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts anticipate 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 declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 30th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 2nd were issued a dividend of $0.79 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 2nd. This represents a $3.16 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.5%. Martin Marietta Materials's dividend payout ratio 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.