Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank Sells 561 Shares of Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. (NYSE:MLM)

Key Points

• Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank reduced its stake in Martin Marietta Materials by 4.3%, owning 12,541 shares valued at approximately $5.996 million after selling 561 shares in the first quarter.
• Analyst ratings for Martin Marietta Materials are mixed, with a **current average rating of "Moderate Buy"** and a price target around **$605.93**, while one analyst downgraded it to "sell".
• The company reported an earnings per share (EPS) of $1.90 for the latest quarter, slightly exceeding the consensus estimate of $1.88, against a background of a quarterly revenue growth of 8.2% year-over-year.

Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank decreased its stake in shares of Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. (NYSE:MLM - Free Report) by 4.3% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 12,541 shares of the construction company's stock after selling 561 shares during the quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank's holdings in Martin Marietta Materials were worth $5,996,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its position in Martin Marietta Materials by 58,570.5% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 697,592 shares of the construction company's stock worth $333,540,000 after purchasing an additional 696,403 shares during the period. Alkeon Capital Management LLC lifted 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 worth $398,324,000 after purchasing an additional 245,000 shares during the period. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Martin Marietta Materials by 39.2% during 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. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Martin Marietta Materials by 6.6% in the 1st 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. Finally, Skye Global Management LP raised its holdings in shares of Martin Marietta Materials by 85.2% in the 4th quarter. Skye Global Management LP now owns 256,500 shares of the construction company's stock worth $132,482,000 after buying an additional 118,000 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 95.04% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MLM has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Martin Marietta Materials from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Saturday, May 31st. Raymond James Financial decreased their price target on 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. Royal Bank Of Canada initiated coverage on Martin Marietta Materials in a research report on Monday, June 16th. They issued a "sector perform" rating and a $515.00 price objective for the company. Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price on Martin Marietta Materials from $559.00 to $609.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, UBS Group raised Martin Marietta Materials from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and lifted their price target for the company from $548.00 to $634.00 in a report on Friday, May 16th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Martin Marietta Materials has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $605.93.

Martin Marietta Materials Stock Up 0.4%

Shares of MLM stock traded up $2.27 on Friday, hitting $577.15. 393,100 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 327,666. The company has a current ratio of 2.25, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58. Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $441.95 and a fifty-two week high of $633.23. The firm has a market capitalization of $34.79 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.25, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.27 and a beta of 0.89. The business has a 50-day moving average of $556.14 and a 200 day moving average of $525.95.

Martin Marietta Materials (NYSE:MLM - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The construction company reported $1.90 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.88 by $0.02. Martin Marietta Materials had a return on equity of 12.01% and a net margin of 16.07%. The firm had revenue of $1.35 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.36 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.93 earnings per share. The business's quarterly revenue was up 8.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts anticipate that Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. will post 19.53 EPS for the current year.

Martin Marietta Materials Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 2nd were issued a $0.79 dividend. This represents a $3.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 2nd. Martin Marietta Materials's dividend payout ratio is presently 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.