Sapient Capital LLC Makes New Investment in Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. (NYSE:MLM)

Sapient Capital LLC bought a new stake in Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. (NYSE:MLM - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund bought 23,784 shares of the construction company's stock, valued at approximately $11,866,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Pinnacle Bancorp Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Martin Marietta Materials in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. MV Capital Management Inc. boosted its position in Martin Marietta Materials by 144.4% in the 3rd quarter. MV Capital Management Inc. now owns 66 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $27,000 after buying an additional 39 shares during the period. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC acquired a new position in shares of Martin Marietta Materials in the fourth quarter worth $27,000. Householder Group Estate & Retirement Specialist LLC acquired a new position in shares of Martin Marietta Materials in the third quarter worth $30,000. Finally, Covestor Ltd increased its position in shares of Martin Marietta Materials by 84.6% during the third quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 72 shares of the construction company's stock worth $30,000 after acquiring an additional 33 shares during the period. 95.04% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reiterated a "neutral" rating and issued a $600.00 target price (up from $530.00) on shares of Martin Marietta Materials in a report on Friday, March 22nd. Stifel Nicolaus upped their target price on shares of Martin Marietta Materials from $510.00 to $598.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 19th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Martin Marietta Materials from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, February 9th. HSBC upgraded shares of Martin Marietta Materials from a "reduce" rating to a "hold" rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $376.00 to $543.00 in a report on Thursday, February 22nd. Finally, Morgan Stanley started coverage on shares of Martin Marietta Materials in a report on Monday, January 8th. They issued an "overweight" rating and a $595.00 price objective on the stock. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Martin Marietta Materials presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $577.38.

Martin Marietta Materials Stock Performance

NYSE MLM traded up $0.53 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $607.08. The company had a trading volume of 283,594 shares, compared to its average volume of 401,830. The business has a 50 day moving average of $576.92 and a 200-day moving average of $501.61. The company has a market cap of $37.53 billion, a PE ratio of 32.24, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.04 and a beta of 0.96. Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. has a 1-year low of $343.71 and a 1-year high of $626.67. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a quick ratio of 2.50 and a current ratio of 3.35.

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

Martin Marietta Materials Dividend Announcement

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 $0.74 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 1st. This represents a $2.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.49%. Martin Marietta Materials's payout ratio is 15.72%.

Insider Activity at Martin Marietta Materials

In other Martin Marietta Materials news, Director Sue W. Cole sold 1,724 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on 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 directly owns 19,793 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $10,757,099.64. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, EVP Roselyn R. Bar sold 10,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $603.29, for a total value of $6,032,900.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 59,970 shares of the company's stock, valued at $36,179,301.30. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Sue W. Cole sold 1,724 shares of the 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 directly owns 19,793 shares of the company's stock, valued at $10,757,099.64. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 26,724 shares of company stock worth $16,033,760 in the last 90 days. 0.59% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.