T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. Sells 1,857,251 Shares of Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. (NYSE:MLM)

T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. cut its position in Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. (NYSE:MLM - Free Report) by 53.6% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 1,606,702 shares of the construction company's stock after selling 1,857,251 shares during the quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. owned about 2.63% of Martin Marietta Materials worth $829,862,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in MLM. Lee Danner & Bass Inc. purchased a new position in Martin Marietta Materials in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Whipplewood Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Martin Marietta Materials during the 4th quarter valued at $32,000. Kestra Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in Martin Marietta Materials during the 4th quarter worth about $35,000. Hopwood Financial Services Inc. bought a new position in Martin Marietta Materials in the 4th quarter worth about $36,000. Finally, EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Martin Marietta Materials by 91.9% during the 4th quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 71 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $37,000 after buying an additional 34 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 95.04% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently weighed in on MLM. Wolfe Research raised shares of Martin Marietta Materials from a "peer perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $563.00 target price on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Stifel Nicolaus assumed coverage on shares of Martin Marietta Materials in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $559.00 price target for the company. Loop Capital lowered their price objective on shares of Martin Marietta Materials from $645.00 to $615.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 1st. Truist Financial reduced their target price on Martin Marietta Materials from $670.00 to $610.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, StockNews.com cut Martin Marietta Materials from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Thursday, February 20th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, eleven have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $599.62.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, SVP Michael J. Petro purchased 550 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 4th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $454.37 per share, with a total value of $249,903.50. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 8,985 shares in the company, valued at $4,082,514.45. This trade represents a 6.52 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Donald A. Mccunniff sold 1,332 shares of Martin Marietta Materials stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $475.00, for a total value of $632,700.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 3,523 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,673,425. The trade was a 27.44 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.68% of the company's stock.

Martin Marietta Materials Trading Down 1.1 %

Shares of Martin Marietta Materials stock traded down $5.52 during trading on Monday, reaching $498.92. 101,472 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 485,474. The company has a quick ratio of 1.40, a current ratio of 2.50 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56. The firm has a market cap of $30.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.43, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.45 and a beta of 0.81. Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. has a 1 year low of $441.95 and a 1 year high of $633.23. The stock's fifty day moving average is $483.45 and its 200 day moving average is $531.55.

Martin Marietta Materials (NYSE:MLM - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The construction company reported $4.79 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.62 by $0.17. Martin Marietta Materials had a net margin of 30.54% and a return on equity of 12.11%. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. will post 19.53 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Martin Marietta Materials Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 3rd were given a dividend of $0.79 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 3rd. This represents a $3.16 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.63%. Martin Marietta Materials's payout ratio is 9.77%.

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.