Aristotle Capital Management LLC Sells 52,600 Shares of Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. (NYSE:MLM)

Aristotle Capital Management LLC lowered its stake in shares of Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. (NYSE:MLM - Free Report) by 2.1% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 2,396,345 shares of the construction company's stock after selling 52,600 shares during the period. Martin Marietta Materials makes up approximately 2.4% of Aristotle Capital Management LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 8th largest position. Aristotle Capital Management LLC owned 3.92% of Martin Marietta Materials worth $1,237,712,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Proficio Capital Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of Martin Marietta Materials by 54,277.3% during the fourth quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 918,432 shares of the construction company's stock worth $474,370,000 after purchasing an additional 916,743 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its stake in Martin Marietta Materials by 76.2% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,628,701 shares of the construction company's stock worth $876,648,000 after buying an additional 704,460 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Martin Marietta Materials during the 4th quarter worth approximately $306,863,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its stake in shares of Martin Marietta Materials by 23.3% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 2,678,425 shares of the construction company's stock worth $1,441,663,000 after acquiring an additional 506,705 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Martin Marietta Materials in the fourth quarter valued at $196,374,000. 95.04% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently commented on MLM. Seaport Res Ptn raised Martin Marietta Materials to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Friday, March 21st. StockNews.com cut shares of Martin Marietta Materials from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 20th. Barclays dropped their target price on Martin Marietta Materials from $645.00 to $600.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Wolfe Research upgraded Martin Marietta Materials from a "peer perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $563.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Finally, Citigroup decreased their target price on Martin Marietta Materials from $701.00 to $600.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, January 6th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, eleven have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $599.69.

Martin Marietta Materials Stock Performance

Martin Marietta Materials stock traded down $6.15 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $536.04. 323,160 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 485,122. Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. has a 52-week low of $441.95 and a 52-week high of $633.23. The stock has a market cap of $32.32 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.58, a P/E/G ratio of 4.45 and a beta of 0.89. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56, a quick ratio of 1.40 and a current ratio of 2.50. The firm's 50 day moving average is $486.36 and its 200 day moving average is $529.79.

Martin Marietta Materials (NYSE:MLM - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 company had revenue of $1.35 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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 revenue for the quarter was up 8.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.93 EPS. Analysts predict that Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. will post 19.53 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Martin Marietta Materials Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 3rd were issued a $0.79 dividend. This represents a $3.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.59%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 3rd. Martin Marietta Materials's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 18.20%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, SVP Michael J. Petro bought 550 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 4th. The shares were bought 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 owns 8,985 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,082,514.45. This trade represents a 6.52 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, 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 transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 3,523 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,673,425. This trade represents a 27.44 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.68% of the company's stock.

Martin Marietta Materials 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.