Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV Reduces Stake in Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. (NYSE:MLM)

Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV trimmed its position in shares of Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. (NYSE:MLM - Free Report) by 71.8% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 1,819 shares of the construction company's stock after selling 4,638 shares during the quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV's holdings in Martin Marietta Materials were worth $940,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in Martin Marietta Materials by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 7,174,183 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $3,705,466,000 after acquiring an additional 36,531 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its holdings 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 during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Martin Marietta Materials by 11.7% during the fourth quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,819,744 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $939,898,000 after acquiring an additional 191,043 shares during the last quarter. Amundi increased its position in Martin Marietta Materials by 10.5% during the 4th quarter. Amundi now owns 1,562,146 shares of the construction company's stock worth $808,005,000 after purchasing an additional 148,065 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Martin Marietta Materials by 2.2% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,472,411 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $758,499,000 after purchasing an additional 32,082 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 95.04% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, SVP Michael J. Petro purchased 550 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 4th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $454.37 per share, for a total transaction of $249,903.50. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 8,985 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,082,514.45. This represents a 6.52 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Donald A. Mccunniff sold 1,332 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 3,523 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,673,425. The trade was a 27.44 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.69% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on MLM shares. Loop Capital lowered their target price on shares of Martin Marietta Materials from $645.00 to $615.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 1st. Truist Financial reduced their price objective on Martin Marietta Materials from $670.00 to $610.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Seaport Res Ptn upgraded shares of Martin Marietta Materials to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. downgraded Martin Marietta Materials from an "overweight" rating to a "neutral" rating and decreased their target price for the stock from $640.00 to $560.00 in a research report on Wednesday, March 19th. Finally, Barclays lowered their price objective on shares of Martin Marietta Materials from $645.00 to $600.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Four investment 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 stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $599.69.

Martin Marietta Materials Trading Up 0.0 %

NYSE MLM opened at $541.61 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56, a quick ratio of 1.40 and a current ratio of 2.50. Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. has a one year low of $441.95 and a one year high of $633.23. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $491.51 and a 200-day simple moving average of $529.26. The firm has a market capitalization of $32.65 billion, a PE ratio of 16.75, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.45 and a beta of 0.89.

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

Martin Marietta Materials Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Monday, March 3rd were given a $0.79 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 3rd. This represents a $3.16 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.58%. Martin Marietta Materials's dividend payout ratio is presently 18.20%.

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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate reporting. This story was reviewed by MarketBeat's editorial team prior to publication. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.