Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. (NYSE:MLM) Shares Purchased by Baird Financial Group Inc.

Baird Financial Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. (NYSE:MLM - Free Report) by 56.4% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 4,978 shares of the construction company's stock after acquiring an additional 1,796 shares during the period. Baird Financial Group Inc.'s holdings in Martin Marietta Materials were worth $2,571,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Lee Danner & Bass Inc. acquired a new stake in Martin Marietta Materials in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Whipplewood Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Martin Marietta Materials in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Kestra Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in Martin Marietta Materials in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Hopwood Financial Services Inc. acquired a new stake in Martin Marietta Materials in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $36,000. Finally, EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Martin Marietta Materials by 91.9% in the fourth quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 71 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $37,000 after acquiring an additional 34 shares in the last quarter. 95.04% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Donald A. Mccunniff sold 1,332 shares of Martin Marietta Materials stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $475.00, for a total value of $632,700.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 3,523 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,673,425. The trade was a 27.44% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Michael J. Petro acquired 550 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 4th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $454.37 per share, with a total value of $249,903.50. Following the completion of the purchase, the senior vice president now directly owns 8,985 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,082,514.45. This represents a 6.52% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 0.69% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Martin Marietta Materials Trading Up 2.1%

Martin Marietta Materials stock traded up $11.65 during trading on Friday, reaching $564.51. 419,345 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 485,736. 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 capitalization of $34.03 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.46, a PEG ratio of 4.45 and a beta of 0.89. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56, a current ratio of 2.50 and a quick ratio of 1.40. The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $499.71 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $528.22.

Martin Marietta Materials (NYSE:MLM - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The construction company reported $1.90 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.88 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $1.35 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.36 billion. Martin Marietta Materials had a return on equity of 12.11% and a net margin of 30.54%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 8.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.93 earnings per share. On average, equities research 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 announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 2nd will be paid a dividend of $0.79 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 2nd. This represents a $3.16 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.56%. Martin Marietta Materials's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 18.20%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MLM has been the topic of several research reports. Loop Capital decreased their target price on Martin Marietta Materials from $645.00 to $615.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 1st. Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on Martin Marietta Materials from $559.00 to $609.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Stephens decreased their target price on Martin Marietta Materials from $675.00 to $650.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Seaport Res Ptn upgraded Martin Marietta Materials to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Friday, March 21st. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their target price on Martin Marietta Materials from $561.00 to $576.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 6th. Three equities research 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $610.69.

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.