Woodline Partners LP Acquires 4,869 Shares of Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. $MLM

Key Points

• Woodline Partners LP increased its stake in Martin Marietta Materials by 14.0%, owning a total of 39,707 shares valued at approximately $18.99 million as of the latest SEC filing.
• Multiple analysts have raised their price targets for Martin Marietta Materials, with estimates now ranging from $525.00 to $700.00, reflecting a positive outlook for the stock.
• The company announced an increase in its quarterly dividend from $0.79 to $0.83 per share, highlighting a commitment to returning value to shareholders.

Woodline Partners LP raised its holdings in Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. (NYSE:MLM - Free Report) by 14.0% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 39,707 shares of the construction company's stock after purchasing an additional 4,869 shares during the period. Woodline Partners LP owned 0.07% of Martin Marietta Materials worth $18,985,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Martin Marietta Materials by 2.3% in 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. lifted its position in shares of Martin Marietta Materials by 10.1% during the first 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 in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Martin Marietta Materials by 6.6% in the first quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,940,423 shares of the construction company's stock worth $927,775,000 after acquiring an additional 120,679 shares during the period. Amundi grew its position in shares of Martin Marietta Materials by 9.2% in 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 in the last quarter. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC raised its stake in shares of Martin Marietta Materials by 58,570.5% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 697,592 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $333,540,000 after purchasing an additional 696,403 shares during the period. 95.04% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MLM has been the subject of several analyst reports. Bank of America raised 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. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Martin Marietta Materials from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, August 9th. UBS Group raised shares of Martin Marietta Materials from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and upped their target price for the stock from $548.00 to $634.00 in a report on Friday, May 16th. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on shares of Martin Marietta Materials from $576.00 to $605.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday, July 28th. Finally, DA Davidson upped their price target on shares of Martin Marietta Materials from $625.00 to $700.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, August 11th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have assigned a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Martin Marietta Materials currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $622.63.

Martin Marietta Materials Price Performance

MLM traded down $14.51 on Friday, reaching $616.61. The company had a trading volume of 331,389 shares, compared to its average volume of 361,376. Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. has a 52-week low of $441.95 and a 52-week high of $633.23. The company has a market cap of $37.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.20, a P/E/G ratio of 5.72 and a beta of 0.94. 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 business has a 50 day simple moving average of $594.11 and a 200 day simple moving average of $543.25.

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 for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $5.44 by ($0.01). Martin Marietta Materials had a net margin of 16.47% and a return on equity of 11.88%. The company had revenue of $1.81 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.88 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $4.76 EPS. The business's quarterly revenue was up 2.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Martin Marietta Materials has set its FY 2025 guidance at EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. will post 19.53 EPS for the current year.

Martin Marietta Materials Increases Dividend

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

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Laree E. Perez sold 1,038 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 8th. The stock was 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. This represents a 6.31% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 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.