Martin Marietta Materials (NYSE:MLM) Given New $650.00 Price Target at Stifel Nicolaus

Martin Marietta Materials (NYSE:MLM - Free Report) had its price objective lifted by Stifel Nicolaus from $621.00 to $650.00 in a research note issued to investors on Monday, Benzinga reports. They currently have a buy rating on the construction company's stock.

MLM has been the topic of a number of other research reports. Raymond James lifted their price target on shares of Martin Marietta Materials from $505.00 to $555.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a research note on Thursday, January 25th. Stephens upped their target price on shares of Martin Marietta Materials from $575.00 to $605.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a research note on Friday, February 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. restated a neutral rating and set a $600.00 price target (up previously from $530.00) on shares of Martin Marietta Materials in a research note on Friday, March 22nd. Morgan Stanley began coverage on Martin Marietta Materials in a research note on Monday, January 8th. They issued an overweight rating and a $595.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Wolfe Research cut Martin Marietta Materials from an outperform rating to a peer perform rating in a report on Friday, March 8th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $581.38.

Martin Marietta Materials Stock Performance

NYSE MLM traded down $2.87 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $599.24. The company had a trading volume of 441,699 shares, compared to its average volume of 400,136. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $580.39 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $505.01. The stock has a market cap of $37.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.82, a P/E/G ratio of 2.94 and a beta of 0.96. The company has a quick ratio of 2.50, a current ratio of 3.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49. Martin Marietta Materials has a fifty-two week low of $343.79 and a fifty-two week high of $626.67.

Martin Marietta Materials (NYSE:MLM - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 14th. The construction company reported $4.63 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.96 by $0.67. Martin Marietta Materials had a return on equity of 15.77% and a net margin of 17.25%. The firm had revenue of $1.61 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.62 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $3.04 earnings per share. The company's quarterly revenue was up 8.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts forecast that Martin Marietta Materials will post 21.09 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Martin Marietta Materials Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 28th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 4th were issued a dividend of $0.74 per share. This represents a $2.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.49%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 1st. Martin Marietta Materials's payout ratio is presently 15.72%.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Sue W. Cole sold 1,724 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $543.48, for a total transaction of $936,959.52. Following the transaction, the director now owns 19,793 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,757,099.64. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In other Martin Marietta Materials news, CEO C Howard Nye sold 15,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $604.26, for a total value of $9,063,900.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 134,640 shares in the company, valued at approximately $81,357,566.40. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Sue W. Cole sold 1,724 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Friday, February 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $543.48, for a total value of $936,959.52. Following the sale, the director now owns 19,793 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $10,757,099.64. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 26,724 shares of company stock worth $16,033,760. 0.59% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Martin Marietta Materials

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in MLM. FMR LLC grew its position in shares of Martin Marietta Materials by 225.3% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,833,959 shares of the construction company's stock worth $752,803,000 after buying an additional 1,270,116 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new position in Martin Marietta Materials in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $308,705,000. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. grew its holdings in Martin Marietta Materials by 4,244.5% during the 4th quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 277,182 shares of the construction company's stock worth $138,289,000 after acquiring an additional 270,802 shares during the period. Morgan Stanley raised its position in shares of Martin Marietta Materials by 51.6% during the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 737,821 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $249,362,000 after acquiring an additional 251,047 shares during the last quarter. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its position in shares of Martin Marietta Materials by 9.7% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 2,042,537 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $838,421,000 after acquiring an additional 181,136 shares during the last quarter. 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.