Sunbeam Capital Management LLC Makes New Investment in Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. (NYSE:MLM)

Sunbeam Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. (NYSE:MLM - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund bought 456 shares of the construction company's stock, valued at approximately $235,000.

Other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its holdings in 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 valued at $1,441,663,000 after buying an additional 506,705 shares during the last quarter. Atomi Financial Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Martin Marietta Materials by 5.9% in the 4th quarter. Atomi Financial Group Inc. now owns 734 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $379,000 after buying an additional 41 shares during the period. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Martin Marietta Materials by 2.1% in the 4th quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 8,691 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $4,489,000 after buying an additional 182 shares during the period. LexAurum Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Martin Marietta Materials by 3.8% during the 4th quarter. LexAurum Advisors LLC now owns 633 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $327,000 after acquiring an additional 23 shares during the period. Finally, Fifth Third Bancorp lifted its position in shares of Martin Marietta Materials by 24.6% during the 4th quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 7,005 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $3,618,000 after acquiring an additional 1,382 shares during the period. 95.04% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Martin Marietta Materials Stock Performance

NYSE:MLM traded down $4.10 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $544.39. 168,938 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 488,032. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56, a current ratio of 2.50 and a quick ratio of 1.40. Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. has a twelve month low of $441.95 and a twelve month high of $633.23. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $512.93 and a 200 day moving average price of $526.69. The firm has a market capitalization of $32.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.83, 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 data on Wednesday, April 30th. The construction company reported $1.90 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 previous year, the business earned $1.93 EPS. The company's quarterly revenue was up 8.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts expect that Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. will post 19.53 EPS for the current fiscal 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 given a $0.79 dividend. This represents a $3.16 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.58%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 2nd. Martin Marietta Materials's payout ratio is currently 18.20%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MLM has been the subject of a number of research reports. Loop Capital reduced their price target on shares of Martin Marietta Materials from $645.00 to $615.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 1st. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of Martin Marietta Materials from $561.00 to $576.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut shares of Martin Marietta Materials from an "overweight" rating to a "neutral" rating and lowered their target price for the stock from $640.00 to $560.00 in a research note on Wednesday, March 19th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their target price on shares of Martin Marietta Materials from $559.00 to $609.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Raymond James lowered their target price on shares of 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. Three investment 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 a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $610.69.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Donald A. Mccunniff sold 1,332 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $475.00, for a total transaction of $632,700.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 3,523 shares in the company, valued at $1,673,425. This represents a 27.44% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, SVP Michael J. Petro acquired 550 shares of Martin Marietta Materials stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 4th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $454.37 per share, with a total value of $249,903.50. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 8,985 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,082,514.45. This trade represents 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.

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.