Sapient Capital LLC Sells 1,595 Shares of Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. $MLM

Key Points

• Sapient Capital LLC reduced its stake in Martin Marietta Materials by 5.4%, selling 1,595 shares, leaving them with 28,023 shares valued at approximately $15.38 million.
• Several institutional investors, including Royal Bank of Canada and Two Sigma Advisers LP, have significantly increased their holdings in Martin Marietta Materials, highlighting strong interest from large shareholders.
• Martin Marietta Materials recently announced an increase in its quarterly dividend to $0.83 per share, up from $0.79, reflecting a commitment to returning value to shareholders.

Sapient Capital LLC lessened its stake in shares of Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. (NYSE:MLM - Free Report) by 5.4% in the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 28,023 shares of the construction company's stock after selling 1,595 shares during the quarter. Sapient Capital LLC's holdings in Martin Marietta Materials were worth $15,384,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Sunbeam Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in Martin Marietta Materials during the 4th quarter valued at about $235,000. Waverly Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Martin Marietta Materials by 78.9% during the 4th quarter. Waverly Advisors LLC now owns 1,041 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $538,000 after buying an additional 459 shares in the last quarter. Mather Group LLC. grew its holdings in Martin Marietta Materials by 65.5% during the 1st quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 278 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $133,000 after buying an additional 110 shares in the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC grew its holdings in Martin Marietta Materials by 1.3% during the 1st quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 3,007 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $1,457,000 after buying an additional 40 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vontobel Holding Ltd. grew its holdings in Martin Marietta Materials by 30.5% during the 1st quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. now owns 933 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $446,000 after buying an additional 218 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 95.04% of the company's stock.

Martin Marietta Materials Trading Down 0.3%

MLM stock traded down $1.99 on Friday, reaching $618.41. The company's stock had a trading volume of 630,860 shares, compared to its average volume of 469,737. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $599.34 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $547.60. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56, a quick ratio of 1.21 and a current ratio of 2.35. The firm has a market cap of $37.29 billion, a PE ratio of 34.30, a PEG ratio of 5.53 and a beta of 0.94. Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. has a 12-month low of $441.95 and a 12-month high of $633.23.

Martin Marietta Materials (NYSE:MLM - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 7th. The construction company reported $5.43 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $5.44 by ($0.01). The firm had revenue of $1.81 billion during 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 for the quarter was up 2.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $4.76 EPS. Martin Marietta Materials has set its FY 2025 guidance at EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. will post 19.53 EPS for the current year.

Martin Marietta Materials Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 30th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 2nd will be issued a $0.83 dividend. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.5%. This is a positive change from Martin Marietta Materials's previous quarterly dividend of $0.79. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 2nd. Martin Marietta Materials's dividend payout ratio is currently 18.41%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have weighed in on MLM. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their target price on Martin Marietta Materials from $609.00 to $637.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, August 12th. Wall Street Zen raised Martin Marietta Materials from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, August 9th. Royal Bank Of Canada reissued a "sector perform" rating and set a $525.00 price objective (up previously from $515.00) on shares of Martin Marietta Materials in a report on Friday, August 8th. DA Davidson boosted their price objective on Martin Marietta Materials from $625.00 to $700.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, August 11th. Finally, Bank of America upped their target price on Martin Marietta Materials from $577.00 to $643.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 5th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have issued a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $622.63.

Insider Transactions at Martin Marietta Materials

In other Martin Marietta Materials news, Director Laree E. Perez sold 1,038 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, August 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $613.32, for a total value of $636,626.16. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 15,417 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,455,554.44. This represents a 6.31% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Company insiders own 0.69% of the company's stock.

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.