Lazard Asset Management LLC Buys 7,750 Shares of Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. (NYSE:MLM)

Lazard Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. (NYSE:MLM - Free Report) by 375.7% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 9,813 shares of the construction company's stock after buying an additional 7,750 shares during the period. Lazard Asset Management LLC's holdings in Martin Marietta Materials were worth $5,068,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Martin Marietta Materials by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 7,174,183 shares of the construction company's stock worth $3,705,466,000 after buying an additional 36,531 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its holdings in Martin Marietta Materials by 23.3% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 2,678,425 shares of the construction company's stock worth $1,441,663,000 after buying an additional 506,705 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Martin Marietta Materials by 11.7% during the fourth quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,819,744 shares of the construction company's stock worth $939,898,000 after buying an additional 191,043 shares in the last quarter. Amundi boosted its holdings in Martin Marietta Materials by 10.5% during the fourth quarter. Amundi now owns 1,562,146 shares of the construction company's stock worth $808,005,000 after buying an additional 148,065 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Martin Marietta Materials by 2.2% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,472,411 shares of the construction company's stock worth $758,499,000 after buying an additional 32,082 shares in the last quarter. 95.04% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Loop Capital reduced their target price on shares of Martin Marietta Materials from $645.00 to $615.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 1st. UBS Group raised shares of Martin Marietta Materials from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $548.00 to $634.00 in a research note on Friday. Stephens decreased their target price on shares of Martin Marietta Materials from $675.00 to $650.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. StockNews.com raised shares of Martin Marietta Materials from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 6th. Finally, Truist Financial decreased 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 note on Thursday, February 13th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $610.69.

Insider Activity

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

Martin Marietta Materials Stock Up 2.1%

Shares of Martin Marietta Materials stock traded up $11.65 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $564.51. 419,345 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 485,736. The company has a market cap of $34.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.46, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.45 and a beta of 0.89. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $499.71 and its 200 day simple moving average is $528.22. 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.

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

Martin Marietta Materials Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 2nd will be issued a dividend of $0.79 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 2nd. This represents a $3.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.56%. Martin Marietta Materials's dividend payout ratio is currently 18.20%.

Martin Marietta Materials Company 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.