Martin Marietta Materials (NYSE:MLM) Price Target Raised to $576.00

Martin Marietta Materials (NYSE:MLM - Free Report) had its price objective lifted by Morgan Stanley from $561.00 to $576.00 in a research note issued to investors on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. They currently have an overweight rating on the construction company's stock.

MLM has been the topic of a number of other reports. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on Martin Marietta Materials from $559.00 to $609.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. downgraded Martin Marietta Materials from an "overweight" rating to a "neutral" rating and decreased their price target for the company from $640.00 to $560.00 in a research report on Wednesday, March 19th. Loop Capital dropped their price objective on shares of Martin Marietta Materials from $645.00 to $615.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 1st. Seaport Res Ptn upgraded shares of Martin Marietta Materials to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Friday, March 21st. Finally, Raymond James decreased 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. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Martin Marietta Materials has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $599.69.

Martin Marietta Materials Price Performance

MLM traded up $0.05 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $541.61. The company had a trading volume of 320,149 shares, compared to its average volume of 486,301. Martin Marietta Materials has a twelve month low of $441.95 and a twelve month high of $633.23. 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 company has a market capitalization of $32.65 billion, a PE ratio of 16.75, a P/E/G ratio of 4.45 and a beta of 0.89. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $491.51 and its 200-day simple moving average is $529.26.

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

Martin Marietta Materials Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 3rd were paid a $0.79 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 3rd. This represents a $3.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.58%. Martin Marietta Materials's dividend payout ratio is currently 18.20%.

Insider Activity at Martin Marietta Materials

In other Martin Marietta Materials news, SVP Michael J. Petro purchased 550 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 4th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $454.37 per share, with a total value of $249,903.50. Following the acquisition, the senior vice president now 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 purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Donald A. Mccunniff sold 1,332 shares of Martin Marietta Materials 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 completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 3,523 shares in the company, valued at $1,673,425. This trade represents a 27.44 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.69% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Martin Marietta Materials

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of MLM. Lee Danner & Bass Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Martin Marietta Materials during the fourth quarter worth approximately $28,000. Wayfinding Financial LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Martin Marietta Materials in the 1st quarter valued at $29,000. Whipplewood Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Martin Marietta Materials during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Chilton Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Martin Marietta Materials during the 1st quarter valued at about $30,000. Finally, Kestra Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in Martin Marietta Materials during the fourth quarter worth $35,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 95.04% of the company's stock.

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.