Handelsbanken Fonder AB Sells 1,330 Shares of Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. (NYSE:MLM)

Handelsbanken Fonder AB cut its holdings in Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. (NYSE:MLM - Free Report) by 4.5% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 28,458 shares of the construction company's stock after selling 1,330 shares during the period. Handelsbanken Fonder AB's holdings in Martin Marietta Materials were worth $13,607,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Martin Marietta Materials by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 7,174,183 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $3,705,466,000 after purchasing an additional 36,531 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Martin Marietta Materials by 11.7% during the 4th quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,819,744 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $939,898,000 after purchasing an additional 191,043 shares during the period. Amundi raised its position in shares of Martin Marietta Materials by 10.5% during the 4th quarter. Amundi now owns 1,562,146 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $808,005,000 after purchasing an additional 148,065 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Martin Marietta Materials by 2.2% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,472,411 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $758,499,000 after purchasing an additional 32,082 shares during the period. Finally, Proficio Capital Partners LLC raised its position in shares of Martin Marietta Materials by 54,277.3% during the 4th quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 918,432 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $474,370,000 after purchasing an additional 916,743 shares during the period. 95.04% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Martin Marietta Materials Stock Performance

Shares of MLM traded down $10.77 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $541.87. 249,973 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 486,711. The firm has a market capitalization of $32.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.76, a P/E/G ratio of 4.45 and a beta of 0.89. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56, a current ratio of 2.50 and a quick ratio of 1.40. Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. has a twelve month low of $441.95 and a twelve month high of $633.23. The business's fifty day simple moving average is $529.68 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $521.85.

Martin Marietta Materials (NYSE:MLM - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 30th. The construction company reported $1.90 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.88 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $1.35 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.36 billion. Martin Marietta Materials had a return on equity of 12.11% and a net margin of 30.54%. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 8.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.93 EPS. Analysts predict that Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. will post 19.53 earnings per share for the current year.

Martin Marietta Materials Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 2nd will be given a dividend of $0.79 per share. This represents a $3.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.58%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 2nd. Martin Marietta Materials's dividend payout ratio is presently 18.20%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on MLM shares. Seaport Res Ptn raised shares of Martin Marietta Materials to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Friday, March 21st. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of Martin Marietta Materials from $561.00 to $576.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 6th. Loop Capital cut their target price on shares of Martin Marietta Materials from $645.00 to $615.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 1st. Raymond James cut their target price on shares of Martin Marietta Materials from $600.00 to $597.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 29th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on shares of Martin Marietta Materials from $559.00 to $609.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $610.69.

About Martin Marietta Materials

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.