Sapient Capital LLC Purchases Shares of 30,263 Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. (NYSE:MLM)

Sapient Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. (NYSE:MLM - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor bought 30,263 shares of the construction company's stock, valued at approximately $15,099,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Pinnacle Bancorp Inc. bought a new position in Martin Marietta Materials in the 4th quarter worth approximately $26,000. MV Capital Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Martin Marietta Materials by 144.4% during the third quarter. MV Capital Management Inc. now owns 66 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 39 shares in the last quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC bought a new stake in shares of Martin Marietta Materials during the fourth quarter valued at about $27,000. Benjamin Edwards Inc. lifted its holdings in Martin Marietta Materials by 78.8% in the fourth quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. now owns 59 shares of the construction company's stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 26 shares during the period. Finally, Covestor Ltd grew its position in Martin Marietta Materials by 84.6% in the 3rd quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 72 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $30,000 after buying an additional 33 shares in the last quarter. 95.04% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

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 shares were sold at an average price of $604.26, for a total transaction of $9,063,900.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 134,640 shares of the company's stock, valued at $81,357,566.40. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In other news, CEO C Howard Nye sold 15,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $604.26, for a total value of $9,063,900.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 134,640 shares in the company, valued at $81,357,566.40. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Roselyn R. Bar sold 10,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $603.29, for a total transaction of $6,032,900.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 59,970 shares in the company, valued at $36,179,301.30. 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 three months. 0.61% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Martin Marietta Materials Stock Up 0.2 %

Shares of MLM stock traded up $1.07 on Friday, reaching $591.03. 491,967 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 472,357. The business's 50 day moving average price is $598.46 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $522.94. The company has a market capitalization of $36.43 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.51, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.80 and a beta of 0.95. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.44, a quick ratio of 2.50 and a current ratio of 3.16. Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. has a 12-month low of $384.61 and a 12-month high of $626.67.

Martin Marietta Materials (NYSE:MLM - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, April 30th. The construction company reported $1.93 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.88 by $0.05. Martin Marietta Materials had a net margin of 31.35% and a return on equity of 14.74%. The company had revenue of $1.25 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.31 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.16 EPS. The company's revenue was down 7.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts forecast that Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. will post 21.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Martin Marietta Materials Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 4th were given a $0.74 dividend. This represents a $2.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.50%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 1st. Martin Marietta Materials's payout ratio is currently 8.77%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MLM has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and issued a $600.00 price target (up from $530.00) on shares of Martin Marietta Materials in a research note on Friday, March 22nd. Stephens lifted their price target on Martin Marietta Materials from $575.00 to $605.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, February 16th. Raymond James upped their price objective on Martin Marietta Materials from $505.00 to $555.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, January 25th. HSBC raised Martin Marietta Materials from a "reduce" rating to a "hold" rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $376.00 to $543.00 in a report on Thursday, February 22nd. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus upped their price target on shares of Martin Marietta Materials from $621.00 to $650.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, April 15th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Martin Marietta Materials has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $588.69.

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.