Nomura Holdings Inc. Raises Position in Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. (NYSE:MLM)

Nomura Holdings Inc. increased its position in shares of Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. (NYSE:MLM - Free Report) by 209.2% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 2,971 shares of the construction company's stock after purchasing an additional 2,010 shares during the quarter. Nomura Holdings Inc.'s holdings in Martin Marietta Materials were worth $1,535,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in MLM. NorthRock Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of Martin Marietta Materials by 89.1% in the 4th quarter. NorthRock Partners LLC now owns 796 shares of the construction company's stock worth $411,000 after buying an additional 375 shares during the last quarter. Nuveen Asset Management LLC increased its position in shares of Martin Marietta Materials by 4.2% during the fourth quarter. Nuveen Asset Management LLC now owns 134,156 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $69,292,000 after acquiring an additional 5,402 shares during the last quarter. Numerai GP LLC lifted its holdings in Martin Marietta Materials by 707.8% during the fourth quarter. Numerai GP LLC now owns 3,102 shares of the construction company's stock worth $1,602,000 after acquiring an additional 2,718 shares during the period. Occudo Quantitative Strategies LP boosted its position in Martin Marietta Materials by 401.0% in the fourth quarter. Occudo Quantitative Strategies LP now owns 5,386 shares of the construction company's stock worth $2,782,000 after purchasing an additional 4,311 shares during the last quarter. Finally, OMERS ADMINISTRATION Corp boosted its position in Martin Marietta Materials by 20.1% in the fourth quarter. OMERS ADMINISTRATION Corp now owns 2,574 shares of the construction company's stock worth $1,329,000 after purchasing an additional 431 shares during the last quarter. 95.04% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Martin Marietta Materials Stock Performance

Shares of MLM stock traded down $3.46 during trading on Friday, reaching $561.23. 106,539 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 484,923. The firm's 50-day moving average is $506.90 and its 200 day moving average is $528.04. The company has a market capitalization of $33.83 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.36, a PEG ratio of 4.45 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. The company has a current ratio of 2.50, a quick ratio of 1.40 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56.

Martin Marietta Materials (NYSE:MLM - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results 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. Martin Marietta Materials had a return on equity of 12.11% and a net margin of 30.54%. The firm had revenue of $1.35 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.36 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.93 earnings per share. The business's quarterly revenue was up 8.2% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts expect that Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. will post 19.53 EPS for the current year.

Martin Marietta Materials Announces Dividend

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

Insider Buying and Selling

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on MLM. Wall Street Zen raised Martin Marietta Materials from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. downgraded shares of Martin Marietta Materials from an "overweight" rating to a "neutral" rating and decreased their price objective for the stock from $640.00 to $560.00 in a report on Wednesday, March 19th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on shares of Martin Marietta Materials from $561.00 to $576.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 6th. Raymond James reduced 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 report on Tuesday, April 29th. Finally, UBS Group upgraded shares of Martin Marietta Materials from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and raised their price target for the stock from $548.00 to $634.00 in a research note on Friday, May 16th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $610.69.

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.