London Co. of Virginia Sells 84,491 Shares of Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. (NYSE:MLM)

London Co. of Virginia decreased its stake in Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. (NYSE:MLM - Free Report) by 30.9% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 189,028 shares of the construction company's stock after selling 84,491 shares during the period. London Co. of Virginia owned 0.31% of Martin Marietta Materials worth $97,633,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Focus Partners Wealth lifted its holdings in shares of Martin Marietta Materials by 9.3% in the 4th quarter. Focus Partners Wealth now owns 4,042 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $2,088,000 after purchasing an additional 345 shares during the last quarter. Ensign Peak Advisors Inc grew its stake in Martin Marietta Materials by 5.4% during the 4th quarter. Ensign Peak Advisors Inc now owns 22,245 shares of the construction company's stock worth $11,490,000 after buying an additional 1,145 shares during the last quarter. Fiduciary Trust Co increased its position in Martin Marietta Materials by 21.0% during the fourth quarter. Fiduciary Trust Co now owns 1,812 shares of the construction company's stock worth $936,000 after buying an additional 314 shares during the period. First Manhattan CO. LLC. increased its position in Martin Marietta Materials by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. First Manhattan CO. LLC. now owns 34,617 shares of the construction company's stock worth $17,880,000 after buying an additional 196 shares during the period. Finally, Deutsche Bank AG boosted its holdings in shares of Martin Marietta Materials by 24.1% in the fourth quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 218,110 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $112,654,000 after acquiring an additional 42,304 shares during the period. 95.04% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Martin Marietta Materials news, EVP Donald A. Mccunniff sold 1,332 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $475.00, for a total value of $632,700.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 3,523 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,673,425. This represents a 27.44% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, SVP Michael J. Petro acquired 550 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 4th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $454.37 per share, with a total value of $249,903.50. Following the completion of the acquisition, the senior vice president now directly owns 8,985 shares of the company's stock, valued at $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.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently weighed in on the stock. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Martin Marietta Materials from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 6th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. downgraded Martin Marietta Materials from an "overweight" rating to a "neutral" rating and reduced their price objective for the company from $640.00 to $560.00 in a research note on Wednesday, March 19th. Truist Financial decreased their price objective on Martin Marietta Materials from $670.00 to $610.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on Martin Marietta Materials from $559.00 to $609.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $599.69.

Martin Marietta Materials Stock Up 2.2%

NYSE MLM traded up $11.85 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $552.87. The company had a trading volume of 368,061 shares, compared to its average volume of 486,024. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56, a current ratio of 2.50 and a quick ratio of 1.40. Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $441.95 and a fifty-two week high of $633.23. The firm's 50 day moving average is $497.71 and its 200 day moving average is $528.88. The company has a market capitalization of $33.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.10, a P/E/G ratio of 4.45 and a beta of 0.89.

Martin Marietta Materials (NYSE:MLM - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The construction company reported $1.90 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.88 by $0.02. Martin Marietta Materials had a net margin of 30.54% and a return on equity of 12.11%. The business had revenue of $1.35 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.36 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.93 EPS. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 8.2% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts anticipate 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. Investors of record on Monday, June 2nd will be given a $0.79 dividend. This represents a $3.16 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.57%. 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.