Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. Acquires 11,567 Shares of Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. (NYSE:MLM)

Key Points

• Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. raised its stake in Martin Marietta Materials by 12.0%, acquiring an additional 11,567 shares and totaling 108,201 shares valued at approximately $51.73 million.
• Several large investors increased their positions in Martin Marietta, with Vanguard Group boosting its holdings by 2.3% and Alkeon Capital Management by 46.6% in recent quarters.
• Martin Marietta reported Q2 earnings with an EPS of $5.43, missing estimates, while revenue was $1.81 billion, below the consensus of $1.88 billion, yet up 2.7% year-over-year.

Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. (NYSE:MLM - Free Report) by 12.0% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 108,201 shares of the construction company's stock after buying an additional 11,567 shares during the period. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. owned about 0.18% of Martin Marietta Materials worth $51,734,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Sunbeam Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in Martin Marietta Materials during the 4th quarter worth approximately $235,000. Waverly Advisors LLC increased its stake in Martin Marietta Materials by 78.9% during the 4th quarter. Waverly Advisors LLC now owns 1,041 shares of the construction company's stock worth $538,000 after buying an additional 459 shares during the period. Mather Group LLC. increased its stake in Martin Marietta Materials by 65.5% during the 1st quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 278 shares of the construction company's stock worth $133,000 after buying an additional 110 shares during the period. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC increased its stake in Martin Marietta Materials by 1.3% during the 1st quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 3,007 shares of the construction company's stock worth $1,457,000 after buying an additional 40 shares during the period. Finally, Vontobel Holding Ltd. increased its stake in Martin Marietta Materials by 30.5% during the 1st quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. now owns 933 shares of the construction company's stock worth $446,000 after buying an additional 218 shares during the period. 95.04% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have commented on the stock. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Martin Marietta Materials from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday. Bank of America increased their price objective on shares of Martin Marietta Materials from $577.00 to $643.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 5th. Raymond James Financial increased their price objective on shares of Martin Marietta Materials from $600.00 to $645.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday. Royal Bank Of Canada reissued a "sector perform" rating and issued a $525.00 price objective (up from $515.00) on shares of Martin Marietta Materials in a research report on Friday. Finally, DA Davidson increased 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. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $620.88.

Martin Marietta Materials Price Performance

Shares of NYSE MLM traded down $10.36 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $600.56. 477,759 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 426,730. Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $441.95 and a fifty-two week high of $633.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56, a current ratio of 2.35 and a quick ratio of 1.21. The firm has a market cap of $36.22 billion, a PE ratio of 33.88, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.58 and a beta of 0.89. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $562.58 and a 200-day simple moving average of $528.64.

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 analysts' consensus estimates of $5.44 by ($0.01). Martin Marietta Materials had a net margin of 16.47% and a return on equity of 11.88%. The business had revenue of $1.81 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.88 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $4.76 earnings per share. Martin Marietta Materials's revenue was up 2.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts anticipate that Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. will post 19.53 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Martin Marietta Materials Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 2nd were given a $0.79 dividend. This represents a $3.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 2nd. Martin Marietta Materials's dividend payout ratio is 17.53%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Laree E. Perez sold 1,038 shares of the 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 completion of the sale, the director directly owned 15,417 shares of the company's stock, valued at $9,455,554.44. This 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 can be accessed through this link. 0.68% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.