Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC Purchases 9,741 Shares of Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. $MLM

Key Points

• Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC increased its stake in Martin Marietta Materials by 307.5%, owning 12,909 shares valued at $6.17 million after purchasing additional shares in the first quarter.
• A number of institutional investors have also increased their holdings in Martin Marietta, with Vanguard Group raising its stake by 2.3%, and JPMorgan Chase by 10.1% during the same quarter.
• Martin Marietta recently declared an increased quarterly dividend of $0.83, with the ex-dividend date set for September 2nd, representing an annual yield of 0.5%.

Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC raised its position in shares of Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. (NYSE:MLM - Free Report) by 307.5% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 12,909 shares of the construction company's stock after purchasing an additional 9,741 shares during the quarter. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC's holdings in Martin Marietta Materials were worth $6,172,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Mariner LLC grew its stake in Martin Marietta Materials by 34.7% during the 4th quarter. Mariner LLC now owns 9,943 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $5,135,000 after acquiring an additional 2,560 shares in the last quarter. XTX Topco Ltd purchased a new stake in Martin Marietta Materials in the 4th quarter worth approximately $353,000. Jump Financial LLC lifted its position in Martin Marietta Materials by 11.8% in the 4th quarter. Jump Financial LLC now owns 1,688 shares of the construction company's stock worth $872,000 after buying an additional 178 shares in the last quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Martin Marietta Materials by 13.1% during the 4th quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 2,462 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $1,272,000 after buying an additional 286 shares during the period. Finally, Farringdon Capital Ltd. purchased a new position in shares of Martin Marietta Materials during the 4th quarter valued at $324,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 95.04% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently issued reports on MLM. UBS Group upgraded Martin Marietta Materials from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $548.00 to $634.00 in a report on Friday, May 16th. Raymond James Financial lifted their price target on Martin Marietta Materials from $600.00 to $645.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, August 8th. Wall Street Zen raised Martin Marietta Materials from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday, August 9th. DA Davidson raised their price objective on shares of Martin Marietta Materials from $625.00 to $700.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, August 11th. Finally, Bank of America boosted their target price on shares of Martin Marietta Materials from $577.00 to $643.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 5th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have given a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $622.63.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Laree E. Perez sold 1,038 shares of Martin Marietta Materials 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 sale, 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 document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders own 0.69% of the company's stock.

Martin Marietta Materials Price Performance

NYSE MLM traded up $11.78 during trading on Friday, reaching $612.52. 95,273 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 476,882. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $571.88 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $532.49. 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 1-year low of $441.95 and a 1-year high of $633.23. The company has a market cap of $36.94 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.99, a P/E/G ratio of 5.48 and a beta of 0.89.

Martin Marietta Materials (NYSE:MLM - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 7th. The construction company reported $5.43 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $5.44 by ($0.01). The firm had revenue of $1.81 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.88 billion. Martin Marietta Materials had a net margin of 16.47% and a return on equity of 11.88%. Martin Marietta Materials's revenue was up 2.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $4.76 EPS. Martin Marietta Materials has set its FY 2025 guidance at EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. will post 19.53 EPS 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 given a dividend of $0.83 per share. This is an increase from Martin Marietta Materials's previous quarterly dividend of $0.79. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 2nd. Martin Marietta Materials's payout ratio is currently 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.