Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio Sells 1,206 Shares of Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. (NYSE:MLM)

Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio decreased its holdings in shares of Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. (NYSE:MLM - Free Report) by 5.4% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 21,062 shares of the construction company's stock after selling 1,206 shares during the period. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio's holdings in Martin Marietta Materials were worth $10,879,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of MLM. Lee Danner & Bass Inc. bought a new position in Martin Marietta Materials in the 4th quarter worth $28,000. Whipplewood Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Martin Marietta Materials in the 4th quarter worth $32,000. Kestra Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in Martin Marietta Materials in the 4th quarter worth $35,000. Hopwood Financial Services Inc. purchased a new stake in Martin Marietta Materials in the 4th quarter worth $36,000. Finally, EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Martin Marietta Materials by 91.9% in the 4th quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 71 shares of the construction company's stock worth $37,000 after purchasing an additional 34 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 95.04% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on MLM. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of Martin Marietta Materials from $561.00 to $576.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut shares of Martin Marietta Materials from an "overweight" rating to a "neutral" rating and decreased their target price for the company from $640.00 to $560.00 in a research report on Wednesday, March 19th. Seaport Res Ptn raised shares of Martin Marietta Materials to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Friday, March 21st. Barclays reduced their price objective on shares of Martin Marietta Materials from $645.00 to $600.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, UBS Group raised shares of 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 research report on Friday, May 16th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Martin Marietta Materials has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $610.69.

Martin Marietta Materials Trading Down 1.2%

Martin Marietta Materials stock traded down $6.85 during trading on Friday, reaching $541.63. The company had a trading volume of 129,104 shares, compared to its average volume of 487,900. Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. has a 12-month low of $441.95 and a 12-month high of $633.23. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $512.93 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $526.69. The firm has a market capitalization of $32.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.76, a PEG ratio of 4.45 and a beta of 0.89. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56, a quick ratio of 1.40 and a current ratio of 2.50.

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

Martin Marietta Materials Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Investors of record on Monday, June 2nd will be issued a $0.79 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 2nd. This represents a $3.16 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.58%. Martin Marietta Materials's dividend payout ratio is presently 18.20%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Martin Marietta Materials

In other news, SVP Michael J. Petro bought 550 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 4th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $454.37 per share, for a total transaction of $249,903.50. Following the completion of the acquisition, the senior vice president now directly owns 8,985 shares in the company, valued at $4,082,514.45. This represents a 6.52% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Donald A. Mccunniff sold 1,332 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated 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 owns 3,523 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,673,425. The trade was 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 owned by 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.