Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. (NYSE:MLM) Shares Sold by Select Equity Group L.P.

Select Equity Group L.P. lowered its position in shares of Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. (NYSE:MLM - Free Report) by 19.5% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,408,743 shares of the construction company's stock after selling 340,925 shares during the quarter. Martin Marietta Materials accounts for approximately 2.9% of Select Equity Group L.P.'s investment portfolio, making the stock its 9th biggest holding. Select Equity Group L.P. owned 2.30% of Martin Marietta Materials worth $727,616,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Lee Danner & Bass Inc. bought a new position in shares of Martin Marietta Materials during the fourth quarter valued at about $28,000. Whipplewood Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Martin Marietta Materials during the fourth quarter valued at about $32,000. Kestra Investment Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Martin Marietta Materials during the fourth quarter valued at about $35,000. Hopwood Financial Services Inc. bought a new position in shares of Martin Marietta Materials during the fourth quarter valued at about $36,000. Finally, EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Martin Marietta Materials by 91.9% during 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 during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 95.04% of the company's stock.

Martin Marietta Materials Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:MLM traded down $4.29 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $563.90. The stock had a trading volume of 327,008 shares, compared to its average volume of 485,086. The company has a current ratio of 2.50, a quick ratio of 1.40 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56. Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. has a 1 year low of $441.95 and a 1 year high of $633.23. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $501.78 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $527.68. The company has a market capitalization of $33.99 billion, a PE ratio of 17.44, a P/E/G ratio of 4.45 and a beta of 0.89.

Martin Marietta Materials (NYSE:MLM - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The construction company reported $1.90 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 company had revenue of $1.35 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.36 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.93 earnings per share. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 8.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts predict 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 disclosed 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 is currently 18.20%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Donald A. Mccunniff sold 1,332 shares of the company's 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 completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 3,523 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,673,425. This represents a 27.44% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, SVP Michael J. Petro acquired 550 shares of Martin Marietta Materials stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 4th. The shares were bought at an average price of $454.37 per share, for a total transaction of $249,903.50. Following the completion of the purchase, the senior vice president now directly owns 8,985 shares in the company, valued at $4,082,514.45. The trade was 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.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MLM has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price target on shares of Martin Marietta Materials from $559.00 to $609.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Seaport Res Ptn upgraded shares of Martin Marietta Materials to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. Raymond James cut their price target on shares of Martin Marietta Materials from $600.00 to $597.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 29th. Barclays lowered their price objective on shares of Martin Marietta Materials from $645.00 to $600.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. downgraded shares of Martin Marietta Materials from an "overweight" rating to a "neutral" rating and decreased their price target for the stock from $640.00 to $560.00 in a research report on Wednesday, March 19th. Three 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 stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price 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.