First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. Raises Holdings in Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. (NYSE:MLM)

First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. boosted its stake in shares of Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. (NYSE:MLM) by 21.6% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 1,093 shares of the construction company’s stock after acquiring an additional 194 shares during the period. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P.’s holdings in Martin Marietta Materials were worth $545,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of MLM. Amalgamated Bank boosted its position in Martin Marietta Materials by 2.5% during the third quarter. Amalgamated Bank now owns 16,460 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $6,757,000 after purchasing an additional 397 shares in the last quarter. Simplicity Solutions LLC grew its position in shares of Martin Marietta Materials by 166.1% in the 4th quarter. Simplicity Solutions LLC now owns 2,725 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $1,360,000 after buying an additional 1,701 shares during the last quarter. Hudson Bay Capital Management LP bought a new position in shares of Martin Marietta Materials during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $3,284,000. Cerity Partners LLC lifted its position in Martin Marietta Materials by 199.8% during the fourth quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 4,791 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $2,390,000 after acquiring an additional 3,193 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd boosted its stake in Martin Marietta Materials by 1.5% in the fourth quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd now owns 5,739 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $2,863,000 after acquiring an additional 85 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 95.04% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have recently commented on the company. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective on Martin Marietta Materials from $642.00 to $737.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 16th. Wolfe Research cut shares of Martin Marietta Materials from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a report on Friday, March 8th. Morgan Stanley assumed coverage on shares of Martin Marietta Materials in a report on Monday, January 8th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $595.00 price objective on the stock. Stephens raised their target price on Martin Marietta Materials from $575.00 to $605.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 16th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded Martin Marietta Materials from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 1st. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $598.17.

Insider Activity

In other Martin Marietta Materials news, Director Sue W. Cole sold 1,724 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 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 the SEC website. In related news, CEO C Howard Nye sold 15,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, 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 legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director Sue W. Cole sold 1,724 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $543.48, for a total transaction of $936,959.52. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 19,793 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,757,099.64. 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 quarter. Insiders own 0.68% of the company’s stock.

Martin Marietta Materials Stock Up 0.2 %

MLM stock opened at $591.03 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 2.41, a current ratio of 3.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.44. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $598.46 and a 200-day simple moving average of $522.94. Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. has a 52 week low of $384.61 and a 52 week high of $626.67. The stock has a market capitalization of $36.43 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.51, a P/E/G ratio of 2.80 and a beta of 0.95.

Martin Marietta Materials (NYSE:MLM) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, April 30th. The construction company reported $1.93 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.88 by $0.05. Martin Marietta Materials had a return on equity of 14.74% and a net margin of 31.35%. The company had revenue of $1.25 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.31 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $2.16 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 7.6% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts forecast that Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. will post 21.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Martin Marietta Materials Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 28th. Investors of record on Monday, March 4th were issued a $0.74 dividend. This represents a $2.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.50%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 1st. Martin Marietta Materials’s dividend payout ratio is presently 8.77%.

Martin Marietta Materials 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.