Rhumbline Advisers Buys 7,362 Shares of Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. (NYSE:MLM)

Rhumbline Advisers lifted its position in shares of Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. (NYSE:MLM - Free Report) by 6.7% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 117,958 shares of the construction company's stock after buying an additional 7,362 shares during the period. Rhumbline Advisers owned about 0.20% of Martin Marietta Materials worth $56,399,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Checchi Capital Advisers LLC grew its stake in Martin Marietta Materials by 1.4% in the fourth quarter. Checchi Capital Advisers LLC now owns 1,336 shares of the construction company's stock worth $690,000 after purchasing an additional 19 shares during the period. OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC grew its stake in Martin Marietta Materials by 1.9% in the fourth quarter. OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 1,020 shares of the construction company's stock worth $527,000 after purchasing an additional 19 shares during the period. OLD National Bancorp IN grew its stake in Martin Marietta Materials by 4.5% in the fourth quarter. OLD National Bancorp IN now owns 483 shares of the construction company's stock worth $249,000 after purchasing an additional 21 shares during the period. Signaturefd LLC grew its stake in shares of Martin Marietta Materials by 2.6% in the fourth quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 835 shares of the construction company's stock worth $431,000 after acquiring an additional 21 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. grew its stake in shares of Martin Marietta Materials by 1.2% in the fourth quarter. Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 1,873 shares of the construction company's stock worth $967,000 after acquiring an additional 23 shares during the last quarter. 95.04% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Martin Marietta Materials Stock Performance

MLM stock traded up $1.25 during trading on Friday, reaching $551.29. The stock had a trading volume of 274,760 shares, compared to its average volume of 487,982. Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. has a 52 week low of $441.95 and a 52 week high of $633.23. The stock's 50 day moving average is $521.85 and its two-hundred day moving average is $524.42. The company has a current ratio of 2.50, a quick ratio of 1.40 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56. The firm has a market cap of $33.23 billion, a PE ratio of 17.05, a PEG ratio of 4.45 and a beta of 0.89.

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 for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates 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 company 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 company earned $1.93 earnings per share. Martin Marietta Materials's revenue was up 8.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts anticipate 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 announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 2nd will be issued a $0.79 dividend. This represents a $3.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.57%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 2nd. Martin Marietta Materials's dividend payout ratio is 18.20%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently commented on MLM. Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price on Martin Marietta Materials from $559.00 to $609.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Raymond James cut their target price on Martin Marietta Materials from $600.00 to $597.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 29th. UBS Group raised Martin Marietta Materials from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and increased their target price for the stock from $548.00 to $634.00 in a research note on Friday, May 16th. Stephens cut their target price on Martin Marietta Materials from $675.00 to $650.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their target price on Martin Marietta Materials from $561.00 to $576.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 6th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $610.69.

Martin Marietta Materials Company 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.