Machina Capital S.A.S. Takes $782,000 Position in Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. (NYSE:MLM)

Machina Capital S.A.S. purchased a new stake in Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. (NYSE:MLM - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 1,568 shares of the construction company's stock, valued at approximately $782,000.

Several other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC grew its holdings in shares of Martin Marietta Materials by 1.2% in the third quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 7,900 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $3,243,000 after acquiring an additional 97 shares in the last quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. grew its stake in Martin Marietta Materials by 9.9% in the 3rd quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 6,834 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $2,805,000 after purchasing an additional 615 shares during the period. Raymond James & Associates raised its stake in shares of Martin Marietta Materials by 44.2% during the 3rd quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 96,250 shares of the construction company's stock worth $39,509,000 after purchasing an additional 29,522 shares during the period. Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. purchased a new position in shares of Martin Marietta Materials in the 3rd quarter worth about $430,000. Finally, Forsta AP Fonden grew its position in Martin Marietta Materials by 4.3% during the third quarter. Forsta AP Fonden now owns 12,200 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $5,008,000 after buying an additional 500 shares during the period. 95.04% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Martin Marietta Materials Stock Down 0.2 %

MLM stock traded down $0.98 on Tuesday, reaching $598.81. 329,675 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 418,221. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.44, a current ratio of 3.16 and a quick ratio of 2.41. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $600.19 and a 200-day simple moving average of $525.61. Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. has a one year low of $389.90 and a one year high of $626.67. The company has a market cap of $36.91 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.74, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.80 and a beta of 0.95.

Martin Marietta Materials (NYSE:MLM - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 30th. The construction company reported $1.93 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.88 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $1.25 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.31 billion. Martin Marietta Materials had a return on equity of 14.74% and a net margin of 31.35%. Martin Marietta Materials's quarterly revenue was down 7.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $2.16 EPS. Research analysts anticipate 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 declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 4th were paid a dividend of $0.74 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend 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 dividend payout ratio is currently 8.77%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on MLM shares. Stephens increased 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 report on Friday, February 16th. Wolfe Research downgraded Martin Marietta Materials from an "outperform" rating to a "peer perform" rating in a research report on Friday, March 8th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on Martin Marietta Materials from $642.00 to $737.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 16th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on Martin Marietta Materials from $621.00 to $650.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, April 15th. Finally, Raymond James upped their price objective on shares of Martin Marietta Materials from $505.00 to $555.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, January 25th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Martin Marietta Materials currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $598.17.

Insider Activity

In other Martin Marietta Materials news, Director Sue W. Cole sold 1,724 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $543.48, for a total value of $936,959.52. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 19,793 shares in the company, valued at $10,757,099.64. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In related news, CEO C Howard Nye sold 15,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 of the company's stock, valued at approximately $81,357,566.40. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Sue W. Cole sold 1,724 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $543.48, for a total transaction of $936,959.52. Following the sale, the director now owns 19,793 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,757,099.64. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 26,724 shares of company stock valued at $16,033,760 in the last quarter. 0.68% of the stock is currently 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.