40,306 Shares in Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. $MLM Purchased by Gradient Investments LLC

Gradient Investments LLC bought a new position in shares of Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. (NYSE:MLM) during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor bought 40,306 shares of the construction company’s stock, valued at approximately $25,404,000. Gradient Investments LLC owned 0.07% of Martin Marietta Materials at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Aaron Wealth Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Martin Marietta Materials by 61.5% in the 3rd quarter. Aaron Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 617 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $389,000 after acquiring an additional 235 shares during the period. First Citizens Financial Corp purchased a new stake in Martin Marietta Materials during the third quarter worth $263,000. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its holdings in Martin Marietta Materials by 14.5% in the third quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,974 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $1,244,000 after purchasing an additional 250 shares during the last quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC increased its position in shares of Martin Marietta Materials by 1.6% in the second quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 71,410 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $39,201,000 after buying an additional 1,146 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Caldwell Trust Co acquired a new position in shares of Martin Marietta Materials during the 2nd quarter worth $58,000. 95.04% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently commented on MLM. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Martin Marietta Materials from $600.00 to $675.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, October 20th. Raymond James Financial increased their price target on shares of Martin Marietta Materials from $645.00 to $680.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 21st. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Martin Marietta Materials in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their target price on Martin Marietta Materials from $637.00 to $681.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 11th. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded Martin Marietta Materials from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Saturday, November 8th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have assigned a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $650.31.

Martin Marietta Materials Stock Down 0.7%

Shares of NYSE MLM opened at $629.43 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $37.96 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.18 and a beta of 1.16. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54, a quick ratio of 2.07 and a current ratio of 2.97. Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. has a 1 year low of $441.95 and a 1 year high of $665.18. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $619.01 and its 200 day moving average price is $597.81.

Martin Marietta Materials (NYSE:MLM) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 4th. The construction company reported $5.97 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.62 by ($0.65). Martin Marietta Materials had a return on equity of 11.68% and a net margin of 17.34%.The business had revenue of $1.85 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.06 billion. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. will post 19.53 earnings per share for the current year.

Martin Marietta Materials Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, December 31st. Investors of record on Monday, December 1st will be issued a $0.83 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 1st. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.5%. Martin Marietta Materials’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 17.50%.

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.