Squarepoint Ops LLC Grows Stock Holdings in Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. (NYSE:MLM)

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

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Proficio Capital Partners LLC grew its stake in 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 valued at $474,370,000 after acquiring an additional 916,743 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Martin Marietta Materials in the fourth quarter worth $306,863,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its holdings in shares of Martin Marietta Materials by 23.3% in the third 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 during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Martin Marietta Materials in the fourth quarter worth $196,374,000. Finally, Alkeon Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Martin Marietta Materials by 46.6% during 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. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 95.04% of the company's stock.

Martin Marietta Materials Price Performance

Shares of Martin Marietta Materials stock opened at $563.90 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56, a quick ratio of 1.40 and a current ratio of 2.50. Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. has a 52-week low of $441.95 and a 52-week high of $633.23. The company has a fifty day moving average of $501.78 and a 200-day moving average of $527.68. The stock has a market capitalization of $33.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.44, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.45 and a beta of 0.89.

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

Martin Marietta Materials Dividend Announcement

The business 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 $0.79 dividend. This represents a $3.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.56%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 2nd. Martin Marietta Materials's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 18.20%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MLM has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Morgan Stanley upped 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. UBS Group raised 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. Truist Financial dropped their target price on shares of Martin Marietta Materials from $670.00 to $610.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Seaport Res Ptn raised shares of Martin Marietta Materials to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. Finally, Raymond James lowered their price objective on shares of Martin Marietta Materials from $600.00 to $597.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 29th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $610.69.

Insider Activity at Martin Marietta Materials

In other news, SVP Michael J. Petro bought 550 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 4th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $454.37 per share, with a total value of $249,903.50. Following the completion of the purchase, the senior vice president now directly owns 8,985 shares in the company, valued at $4,082,514.45. This represents a 6.52% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Donald A. Mccunniff sold 1,332 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $475.00, for a total transaction of $632,700.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 3,523 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,673,425. This represents a 27.44% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.69% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.

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