William Blair Investment Management LLC Sells 6,037 Shares of Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. $MLM

Key Points

• William Blair Investment Management LLC sold 6,037 shares of Martin Marietta Materials, reducing its stake by 2.1%, and now owns approximately 286,715 shares valued at $157.4 million.
• Several brokerages have raised their price targets for Martin Marietta Materials, with Raymond James Financial increasing its target from $600 to $645, signaling strong market sentiment towards the stock.
• Martin Marietta Materials recently increased its quarterly dividend to $0.83 per share, reflecting a 0.5% yield and an 18.41% payout ratio.

William Blair Investment Management LLC lessened its stake in Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. (NYSE:MLM - Free Report) by 2.1% in the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 286,715 shares of the construction company's stock after selling 6,037 shares during the quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC owned about 0.48% of Martin Marietta Materials worth $157,395,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Martin Marietta Materials by 2.3% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 7,342,358 shares of the construction company's stock worth $3,510,602,000 after buying an additional 168,175 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its stake in Martin Marietta Materials by 10.1% during the 1st quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 2,944,694 shares of the construction company's stock worth $1,407,947,000 after acquiring an additional 268,928 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its holdings in Martin Marietta Materials by 6.6% during the first quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,940,423 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $927,775,000 after purchasing an additional 120,679 shares during the period. Amundi grew its holdings in Martin Marietta Materials by 9.2% during the first quarter. Amundi now owns 1,706,416 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $827,345,000 after purchasing an additional 144,270 shares during the period. Finally, Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in Martin Marietta Materials by 39.2% in the first quarter. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. now owns 659,363 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $315,261,000 after purchasing an additional 185,731 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 95.04% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on MLM. Raymond James Financial boosted their price target on shares of Martin Marietta Materials from $600.00 to $645.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, August 8th. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on Martin Marietta Materials from $576.00 to $605.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday, July 28th. Royal Bank Of Canada restated a "sector perform" rating and issued a $525.00 price target (up from $515.00) on shares of Martin Marietta Materials in a report on Friday, August 8th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a "buy (b-)" rating on shares of Martin Marietta Materials in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, Stephens reiterated an "overweight" rating and issued a $700.00 price objective on shares of Martin Marietta Materials in a research report on Monday, August 4th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have given a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $621.69.

Martin Marietta Materials Stock Up 0.3%

Martin Marietta Materials stock opened at $625.84 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $37.74 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.71, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.66 and a beta of 1.01. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $619.15 and a 200 day simple moving average of $568.15. The company has a current ratio of 2.35, a quick ratio of 1.21 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56. Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. has a 1-year low of $441.95 and a 1-year high of $665.18.

Martin Marietta Materials (NYSE:MLM - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, August 7th. The construction company reported $5.43 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $5.44 by ($0.01). Martin Marietta Materials had a return on equity of 11.88% and a net margin of 16.47%.The company had revenue of $1.81 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.88 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $4.76 EPS. The business's revenue was up 2.7% on a year-over-year basis. Martin Marietta Materials has set its FY 2025 guidance at EPS. Research analysts anticipate that Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. will post 19.53 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Martin Marietta Materials Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 30th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 2nd were issued a $0.83 dividend. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, September 2nd. This is a boost from Martin Marietta Materials's previous quarterly dividend of $0.79. Martin Marietta Materials's payout ratio is currently 18.41%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Martin Marietta Materials

In related news, Director Laree E. Perez sold 1,038 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Friday, August 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $613.32, for a total transaction of $636,626.16. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 15,417 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,455,554.44. The trade was a 6.31% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Corporate 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.

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