Beck Bode LLC Boosts Position in Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. (NYSE:MLM)

Beck Bode LLC increased its holdings in Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. (NYSE:MLM - Free Report) by 107.0% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 5,993 shares of the construction company's stock after acquiring an additional 3,098 shares during the quarter. Beck Bode LLC's holdings in Martin Marietta Materials were worth $2,990,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its stake in shares of Martin Marietta Materials by 9.7% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 2,042,537 shares of the construction company's stock worth $838,421,000 after acquiring an additional 181,136 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC lifted its holdings 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 valued at $752,803,000 after buying an additional 1,270,116 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp boosted its stake in shares of Martin Marietta Materials by 3.8% in the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 615,467 shares of the construction company's stock worth $252,637,000 after buying an additional 22,391 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of Martin Marietta Materials by 22.6% in the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 570,193 shares of the construction company's stock worth $234,053,000 after acquiring an additional 104,981 shares during the period. Finally, DAVENPORT & Co LLC increased its position in Martin Marietta Materials by 0.8% during the fourth quarter. DAVENPORT & Co LLC now owns 423,953 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $211,103,000 after acquiring an additional 3,292 shares during the last quarter. 95.04% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on MLM. Morgan Stanley began coverage on shares of Martin Marietta Materials in a research report on Monday, January 8th. They set an "overweight" rating and a $595.00 price objective for the company. HSBC raised shares of Martin Marietta Materials from a "reduce" rating to a "hold" rating and upped their target price for the stock from $376.00 to $543.00 in a report on Thursday, February 22nd. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on Martin Marietta Materials from $642.00 to $737.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, April 16th. Citigroup upped their price objective on Martin Marietta Materials from $635.00 to $708.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, April 5th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reissued a "neutral" rating and set a $600.00 target price (up previously from $530.00) on shares of Martin Marietta Materials in a research note on Friday, March 22nd. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $588.69.

Martin Marietta Materials Trading Down 2.5 %

Shares of MLM traded down $15.32 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $587.32. 821,899 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 414,079. Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. has a 12 month low of $361.23 and a 12 month high of $626.67. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a current ratio of 3.35 and a quick ratio of 2.50. The stock has a market cap of $36.25 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.00, a P/E/G ratio of 2.93 and a beta of 0.96. The stock's 50-day moving average is $594.62 and its two-hundred day moving average is $518.37.

Martin Marietta Materials (NYSE:MLM - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 14th. The construction company reported $4.63 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.96 by $0.67. Martin Marietta Materials had a net margin of 17.25% and a return on equity of 15.77%. The firm had revenue of $1.61 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.62 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $3.04 EPS. The company's revenue was up 8.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts forecast that Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. will post 21.3 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Martin Marietta Materials Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 28th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 4th were paid a dividend of $0.74 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 1st. This represents a $2.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.50%. Martin Marietta Materials's payout ratio is currently 15.72%.

Insider Activity at Martin Marietta Materials

In other Martin Marietta Materials news, CEO C Howard Nye sold 15,000 shares of Martin Marietta Materials stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $604.26, for a total transaction of $9,063,900.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 134,640 shares in the company, valued at approximately $81,357,566.40. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In other news, CEO C Howard Nye sold 15,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $604.26, for a total transaction of $9,063,900.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 134,640 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $81,357,566.40. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Roselyn R. Bar sold 10,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $603.29, for a total transaction of $6,032,900.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 59,970 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $36,179,301.30. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 26,724 shares of company stock valued at $16,033,760 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.59% of the company's stock.

Martin Marietta Materials Company 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.

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