Williams Jones Wealth Management LLC. Sells 3,585 Shares of Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. (NYSE:MLM)

Williams Jones Wealth Management LLC. lowered its position in shares of Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. (NYSE:MLM - Free Report) by 9.4% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 34,733 shares of the construction company's stock after selling 3,585 shares during the period. Williams Jones Wealth Management LLC. owned 0.06% of Martin Marietta Materials worth $17,940,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Fifth Third Bancorp increased its stake in shares of Martin Marietta Materials by 24.6% during the fourth quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 7,005 shares of the construction company's stock worth $3,618,000 after purchasing an additional 1,382 shares during the period. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC grew its position in Martin Marietta Materials by 64.6% during the fourth quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 2,028 shares of the construction company's stock worth $1,047,000 after buying an additional 796 shares in the last quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management UK Ltd. acquired a new stake in Martin Marietta Materials during the fourth quarter worth approximately $517,000. Clarendon Private LLC acquired a new stake in Martin Marietta Materials during the fourth quarter worth approximately $383,000. Finally, Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA acquired a new stake in Martin Marietta Materials during the fourth quarter worth approximately $547,000. Institutional investors own 95.04% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MLM has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price target on Martin Marietta Materials from $559.00 to $609.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. UBS Group raised Martin Marietta Materials from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and increased their price target for the stock from $548.00 to $634.00 in a research report on Friday, May 16th. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on Martin Marietta Materials from $561.00 to $576.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 6th. Truist Financial reduced their price target on Martin Marietta Materials from $670.00 to $610.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, Barclays reduced their target price on Martin Marietta Materials from $645.00 to $600.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Three 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 MarketBeat.com, Martin Marietta Materials currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $610.69.

Martin Marietta Materials Price Performance

Shares of NYSE MLM traded down $2.93 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $561.76. 362,949 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 486,765. 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 company has a market cap of $33.87 billion, a PE ratio of 17.38, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.45 and a beta of 0.89. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $508.38 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $527.27.

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

Martin Marietta Materials Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Investors of record on Monday, June 2nd will be given a dividend of $0.79 per share. This represents a $3.16 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.56%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 2nd. Martin Marietta Materials's dividend payout ratio is currently 18.20%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Donald A. Mccunniff sold 1,332 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $475.00, for a total transaction of $632,700.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 3,523 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,673,425. This trade represents a 27.44% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, SVP Michael J. Petro bought 550 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 4th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $454.37 per share, with a total value of $249,903.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 8,985 shares in the company, valued at $4,082,514.45. The trade was a 6.52% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 0.69% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.