Rathbones Group PLC Sells 1,299 Shares of Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. (NYSE:MLM)

Key Points

• Rathbones Group PLC has reduced its stake in Martin Marietta Materials by 0.6%, selling 1,299 shares to own a total of 203,953 shares valued at approximately $97.5 million.
• Martin Marietta Materials reported Q2 earnings of $5.43 per share, slightly below analysts' estimates, with a revenue of $1.81 billion, indicating a 2.7% year-over-year growth.
• Analysts have a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" for Martin Marietta Materials, with an average price target of $620.88, reflecting optimism about the company's future performance.

Rathbones Group PLC decreased its holdings in shares of Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. (NYSE:MLM - Free Report) by 0.6% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 203,953 shares of the construction company's stock after selling 1,299 shares during the quarter. Rathbones Group PLC owned approximately 0.34% of Martin Marietta Materials worth $97,516,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in Martin Marietta Materials by 2.3% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 7,342,358 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $3,510,602,000 after buying an additional 168,175 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its stake in Martin Marietta Materials by 10.1% in the 1st quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 2,944,694 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $1,407,947,000 after buying an additional 268,928 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its stake in Martin Marietta Materials by 6.6% in the 1st quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,940,423 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $927,775,000 after buying an additional 120,679 shares during the last quarter. Alkeon Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Martin Marietta Materials by 46.6% in the 4th 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 last quarter. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC grew its stake in Martin Marietta Materials by 58,570.5% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 697,592 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $333,540,000 after buying an additional 696,403 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 95.04% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at Martin Marietta Materials

In other news, Director Laree E. Perez sold 1,038 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $613.32, for a total transaction of $636,626.16. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 15,417 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $9,455,554.44. This trade represents a 6.31% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.69% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated a "sector perform" rating and issued a $525.00 target price (up from $515.00) on shares of Martin Marietta Materials in a research note on Friday, August 8th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on shares of Martin Marietta Materials from $609.00 to $637.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday. UBS Group upgraded shares of Martin Marietta Materials from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and raised their target price for the company from $548.00 to $634.00 in a research note on Friday, May 16th. Stephens restated an "overweight" rating and issued a $700.00 price target on shares of Martin Marietta Materials in a research report on Monday, August 4th. Finally, Bank of America raised their price target on shares of Martin Marietta Materials from $577.00 to $643.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 5th. Five investment 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, Martin Marietta Materials presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $622.63.

Martin Marietta Materials Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:MLM traded down $6.90 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $613.18. 365,019 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 483,851. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $566.66 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $530.35. The firm has a market capitalization of $36.98 billion, a PE ratio of 34.01, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.62 and a beta of 0.89. Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. has a 12 month low of $441.95 and a 12 month high of $633.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56, a quick ratio of 1.21 and a current ratio of 2.35.

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

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.