Squarepoint Ops LLC Boosts Stake in Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. (NYSE:MLM)

Squarepoint Ops LLC boosted its stake in shares of Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. (NYSE:MLM - Free Report) by 278.0% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 59,124 shares of the construction company's stock after buying an additional 43,482 shares during the quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC owned approximately 0.10% of Martin Marietta Materials worth $30,538,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Lee Danner & Bass Inc. bought a new position in shares of Martin Marietta Materials during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Whipplewood Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Martin Marietta Materials in the fourth quarter valued at about $32,000. Kestra Investment Management LLC bought a new position in Martin Marietta Materials in the fourth quarter worth about $35,000. Hopwood Financial Services Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Martin Marietta Materials during the fourth quarter valued at about $36,000. Finally, EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Martin Marietta Materials by 91.9% in the fourth quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 71 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $37,000 after acquiring an additional 34 shares in the last quarter. 95.04% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Donald A. Mccunniff sold 1,332 shares of the business's 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 transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 3,523 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,673,425. The trade was a 27.44% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, SVP Michael J. Petro acquired 550 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 4th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $454.37 per share, with a total value of $249,903.50. Following the acquisition, the senior vice president now owns 8,985 shares in the company, valued at $4,082,514.45. The trade was a 6.52% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders own 0.69% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have recently commented on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut Martin Marietta Materials from an "overweight" rating to a "neutral" rating and lowered their price objective for the stock from $640.00 to $560.00 in a research report on Wednesday, March 19th. Raymond James decreased their price target on Martin Marietta Materials from $600.00 to $597.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 29th. Seaport Res Ptn raised Martin Marietta Materials to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of Martin Marietta Materials from $561.00 to $576.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, May 6th. Finally, Stephens lowered their target price on shares of Martin Marietta Materials from $675.00 to $650.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $610.69.

Martin Marietta Materials Price Performance

Shares of Martin Marietta Materials stock traded down $2.93 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $561.76. The stock had a trading volume of 362,949 shares, compared to its average volume of 486,765. The stock's 50 day moving average is $508.38 and its 200 day moving average is $526.64. The company has a current ratio of 2.50, a quick ratio of 1.40 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56. Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. has a twelve month low of $441.95 and a twelve month high of $633.23. The firm has a market capitalization of $33.87 billion, a PE ratio of 17.38, a PEG ratio of 4.45 and a beta of 0.89.

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 the consensus estimate of $1.88 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $1.35 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.36 billion. Martin Marietta Materials had a return on equity of 12.11% and a net margin of 30.54%. Martin Marietta Materials's revenue for the quarter was up 8.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.93 EPS. 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 firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 2nd will be paid a dividend of $0.79 per share. This represents a $3.16 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.56%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 2nd. Martin Marietta Materials's payout ratio is 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.