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

Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio trimmed its stake 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 filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 21,062 shares of the construction company's stock after selling 1,206 shares during the quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio's holdings in Martin Marietta Materials were worth $10,879,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Proficio Capital Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of Martin Marietta Materials by 54,277.3% during the fourth quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 918,432 shares of the construction company's stock worth $474,370,000 after buying an additional 916,743 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Martin Marietta Materials in the 4th quarter worth about $306,863,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its holdings in Martin Marietta Materials by 23.3% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 2,678,425 shares of the construction company's stock worth $1,441,663,000 after purchasing an additional 506,705 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in Martin Marietta Materials in the 4th quarter worth about $196,374,000. Finally, Alkeon Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Martin Marietta Materials by 46.6% in the fourth quarter. Alkeon Capital Management LLC now owns 771,198 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $398,324,000 after buying an additional 245,000 shares during the period. 95.04% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MLM has been the subject of several recent research reports. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on Martin Marietta Materials from $559.00 to $609.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. downgraded Martin Marietta Materials from an "overweight" rating to a "neutral" rating and decreased their price objective for the company from $640.00 to $560.00 in a report on Wednesday, March 19th. Seaport Res Ptn raised Martin Marietta Materials to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Friday, March 21st. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on Martin Marietta Materials from $561.00 to $576.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 6th. Finally, UBS Group raised Martin Marietta Materials from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and increased their price target for the company from $548.00 to $634.00 in a research note on Friday, May 16th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Martin Marietta Materials currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $610.69.

Insider Buying and Selling at Martin Marietta Materials

In other news, EVP Donald A. Mccunniff sold 1,332 shares of Martin Marietta Materials stock in a transaction dated 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 directly owns 3,523 shares in the company, valued at $1,673,425. This trade represents a 27.44% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Michael J. Petro acquired 550 shares of Martin Marietta Materials stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 4th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $454.37 per share, with a total value of $249,903.50. Following the completion of the acquisition, the senior vice president now directly owns 8,985 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $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. Insiders own 0.69% of the company's stock.

Martin Marietta Materials Stock Down 2.9%

NYSE:MLM traded down $16.69 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $550.80. The company had a trading volume of 614,871 shares, compared to its average volume of 487,824. The company has a quick ratio of 1.40, a current ratio of 2.50 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56. The firm has a market cap of $33.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.04, a P/E/G ratio of 4.45 and a beta of 0.89. The business's 50-day simple moving average is $512.93 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $526.69. Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. has a twelve month low of $441.95 and a twelve month high of $633.23.

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

Martin Marietta Materials Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 2nd will be paid a $0.79 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 2nd. This represents a $3.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.57%. Martin Marietta Materials's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 18.20%.

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.