Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. (NYSE:MLM) Shares Sold by Mizuho Securities USA LLC

Key Points

• Mizuho Securities USA LLC reduced its stake in Martin Marietta Materials by 15.5%, selling 899 shares and now holding 4,894 shares valued at approximately $2.34 million.
• Martin Marietta reported earnings of $5.43 per share, missing analyst expectations by $0.01, and reported a revenue of $1.81 billion, which was below the forecast of $1.88 billion.
• Analysts are optimistic, with multiple firms raising their price targets for the stock, predicting a consensus target price of $620.88 and assigning an overall rating of "Moderate Buy."

Mizuho Securities USA LLC reduced its stake in shares of Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. (NYSE:MLM - Free Report) by 15.5% in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 4,894 shares of the construction company's stock after selling 899 shares during the quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC's holdings in Martin Marietta Materials were worth $2,340,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Sunbeam Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Martin Marietta Materials during the 4th quarter worth $235,000. Waverly Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 459 shares during the last quarter. Mather Group LLC. lifted its stake in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 110 shares during the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC lifted its stake in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 40 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Vontobel Holding Ltd. increased its position in Martin Marietta Materials by 30.5% during the 1st quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. now owns 933 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $446,000 after buying an additional 218 shares in the last quarter. 95.04% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently issued reports on MLM. UBS Group raised Martin Marietta Materials from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and upped their target price for the company from $548.00 to $634.00 in a research report on Friday, May 16th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their target price on Martin Marietta Materials from $609.00 to $637.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday. Wall Street Zen raised Martin Marietta Materials from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, August 9th. Stephens reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and set a $700.00 target price on shares of Martin Marietta Materials in a research report on Monday, August 4th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed a "sector perform" rating and set a $525.00 target price (up from $515.00) on shares of Martin Marietta Materials in a research report on Friday, August 8th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $622.63.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Laree E. Perez sold 1,038 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $613.32, for a total transaction of $636,626.16. Following the sale, the director directly owned 15,417 shares of the company's stock, 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 legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.69% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Martin Marietta Materials Stock Performance

Shares of MLM stock traded down $6.90 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $613.18. The stock had a trading volume of 365,019 shares, compared to its average volume of 483,851. The business's fifty day moving average is $565.40 and its 200-day moving average is $529.88. The company has a current ratio of 2.35, a quick ratio of 1.21 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56. The firm has a market cap of $36.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.01, a PEG ratio of 5.62 and a beta of 0.89. Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. has a 1-year low of $441.95 and a 1-year high of $633.23.

Martin Marietta Materials (NYSE:MLM - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, August 7th. The construction company reported $5.43 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $5.44 by ($0.01). The company had revenue of $1.81 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.88 billion. Martin Marietta Materials had a return on equity of 11.88% and a net margin of 16.47%. The firm's revenue was up 2.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $4.76 earnings per share. On average, research analysts forecast that Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. will post 19.53 earnings per share for the current year.

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.