Virtus ETF Advisers LLC Makes New $1.03 Million Investment in Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. (NYSE:MLM)

Virtus ETF Advisers LLC acquired a new stake in Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. (NYSE:MLM - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund acquired 1,989 shares of the construction company's stock, valued at approximately $1,027,000.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in MLM. Checchi Capital Advisers LLC lifted its position in shares of Martin Marietta Materials by 1.4% in the fourth quarter. Checchi Capital Advisers LLC now owns 1,336 shares of the construction company's stock worth $690,000 after buying an additional 19 shares in the last quarter. OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Martin Marietta Materials by 1.9% during the 4th quarter. OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 1,020 shares of the construction company's stock worth $527,000 after acquiring an additional 19 shares in the last quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group grew its holdings in shares of Martin Marietta Materials by 4.7% in the fourth quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group now owns 447 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $231,000 after purchasing an additional 20 shares in the last quarter. OLD National Bancorp IN raised its stake in Martin Marietta Materials by 4.5% during the fourth quarter. OLD National Bancorp IN now owns 483 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $249,000 after purchasing an additional 21 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Signaturefd LLC grew its stake in shares of Martin Marietta Materials by 2.6% in the 4th quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 835 shares of the construction company's stock worth $431,000 after buying an additional 21 shares in the last quarter. 95.04% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts recently commented on MLM shares. Stephens dropped their price target on Martin Marietta Materials from $675.00 to $650.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their target price on Martin Marietta Materials from $559.00 to $609.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday. Loop Capital decreased their price target on Martin Marietta Materials from $645.00 to $615.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 1st. UBS Group lowered shares of Martin Marietta Materials from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $491.00 price objective for the company. in a research note on Monday, April 7th. Finally, 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 research note on Wednesday, January 8th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating, eleven have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $603.23.

Martin Marietta Materials Stock Up 2.7 %

Shares of MLM stock traded up $14.01 on Friday, hitting $536.89. The stock had a trading volume of 158,500 shares, compared to its average volume of 484,930. Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. has a one year low of $441.95 and a one year high of $633.23. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $484.39 and a 200 day moving average price of $530.82. The company has a market cap of $32.54 billion, a PE ratio of 16.61, a P/E/G ratio of 4.45 and a beta of 0.81. The company has a quick ratio of 1.40, a current ratio of 2.50 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56.

Martin Marietta Materials (NYSE:MLM - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The construction company reported $1.90 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.88 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $1.35 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.36 billion. Martin Marietta Materials had a net margin of 30.54% and a return on equity of 12.11%. The company's revenue was up 8.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.93 EPS. Research analysts anticipate that Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. will post 19.53 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Martin Marietta Materials Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 3rd were paid a $0.79 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 3rd. This represents a $3.16 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.59%. Martin Marietta Materials's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 9.77%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, SVP Michael J. Petro acquired 550 shares of Martin Marietta Materials stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 4th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $454.37 per share, for a total transaction of $249,903.50. Following the purchase, the senior vice president now directly owns 8,985 shares in the company, valued at $4,082,514.45. The trade was a 6.52 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Donald A. Mccunniff sold 1,332 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $475.00, for a total transaction of $632,700.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 3,523 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,673,425. This trade represents a 27.44 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.68% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.