Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. Buys 904 Shares of Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. (NYSE:MLM)

Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. grew its stake in shares of Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. (NYSE:MLM) by 3,228.6% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 932 shares of the construction company’s stock after purchasing an additional 904 shares during the quarter. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc.’s holdings in Martin Marietta Materials were worth $465,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC lifted its stake in 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 during the last quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. increased its position in Martin Marietta Materials by 9.9% during the third quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 6,834 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $2,805,000 after buying an additional 615 shares during the last quarter. Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. bought a new stake in Martin Marietta Materials in the third quarter valued at approximately $430,000. Mackenzie Financial Corp lifted its position in shares of Martin Marietta Materials by 3.6% in the third quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 5,295 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $2,141,000 after buying an additional 182 shares during the last quarter. Finally, IFM Investors Pty Ltd boosted its stake in shares of Martin Marietta Materials by 4.6% during the 3rd quarter. IFM Investors Pty Ltd now owns 12,418 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $5,097,000 after acquiring an additional 551 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 95.04% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Martin Marietta Materials

In other news, CEO C Howard Nye sold 15,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $604.26, for a total transaction of $9,063,900.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now 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 through this link. In other Martin Marietta Materials news, EVP Roselyn R. Bar sold 10,000 shares of the business’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 sale, the executive vice president now owns 59,970 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $36,179,301.30. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO C Howard Nye sold 15,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 5th. The stock was 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 owns 134,640 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $81,357,566.40. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 26,724 shares of company stock valued at $16,033,760 over the last three months. 0.68% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Martin Marietta Materials Trading Down 0.4 %

Shares of NYSE:MLM opened at $596.64 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $36.78 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.68, a P/E/G ratio of 2.80 and a beta of 0.95. 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 business’s 50 day simple moving average is $600.80 and its 200 day simple moving average is $526.10. Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. has a 1 year low of $389.90 and a 1 year high of $626.67.

Martin Marietta Materials (NYSE:MLM) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 30th. The construction company reported $1.93 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.31 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $2.16 earnings per share. Martin Marietta Materials’s revenue was down 7.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts anticipate that Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. will post 21.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Martin Marietta Materials Announces Dividend

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on MLM shares. Raymond James increased their price target on Martin Marietta Materials from $505.00 to $555.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 25th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective on shares of Martin Marietta Materials from $642.00 to $737.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 16th. Wolfe Research downgraded shares of Martin Marietta Materials from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a report on Friday, March 8th. Stephens increased their price target on shares of Martin Marietta Materials from $575.00 to $605.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, February 16th. Finally, HSBC upgraded Martin Marietta Materials from a “reduce” rating to a “hold” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $376.00 to $543.00 in a report on Thursday, February 22nd. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $598.17.

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.