Raymond James & Associates Reduces Stock Position in Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. (NYSE:MLM)

Raymond James & Associates cut its holdings in Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. (NYSE:MLM) by 2.8% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 67,418 shares of the construction company’s stock after selling 1,976 shares during the period. Raymond James & Associates owned about 0.11% of Martin Marietta Materials worth $36,288,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Blue Trust Inc. raised its position in shares of Martin Marietta Materials by 223.0% during the 3rd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 646 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $350,000 after acquiring an additional 446 shares in the last quarter. Net Worth Advisory Group acquired a new stake in Martin Marietta Materials during the third quarter worth approximately $511,000. V Square Quantitative Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Martin Marietta Materials by 17.2% during the 3rd quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC now owns 1,239 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $667,000 after buying an additional 182 shares during the last quarter. CHB Investment Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Martin Marietta Materials in the 3rd quarter valued at $2,585,000. Finally, Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd grew its position in shares of Martin Marietta Materials by 0.9% in the 3rd quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd now owns 6,602 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $3,554,000 after buying an additional 62 shares during the last quarter. 95.04% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Martin Marietta Materials Trading Up 0.3 %

Shares of Martin Marietta Materials stock opened at $562.79 on Thursday. The company has a 50-day moving average of $535.47 and a two-hundred day moving average of $557.11. Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. has a 12-month low of $389.90 and a 12-month high of $626.67. The company has a current ratio of 1.86, a quick ratio of 0.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45. The stock has a market cap of $34.69 billion, a PE ratio of 16.68, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.68 and a beta of 0.91.

Martin Marietta Materials (NYSE:MLM) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 8th. The construction company reported $4.76 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $5.36 by ($0.60). The firm had revenue of $1.76 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.83 billion. Martin Marietta Materials had a net margin of 30.80% and a return on equity of 13.85%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 3.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $5.60 earnings per share. On average, research analysts anticipate that Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. will post 19.33 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Martin Marietta Materials Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 30th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 3rd were paid a $0.79 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, September 3rd. This represents a $3.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.56%. This is a positive change from Martin Marietta Materials’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.74. Martin Marietta Materials’s dividend payout ratio is presently 9.36%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on MLM. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price target on shares of Martin Marietta Materials from $650.00 to $630.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, July 3rd. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their target price on Martin Marietta Materials from $650.00 to $635.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. Stephens cut their price target on Martin Marietta Materials from $650.00 to $610.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, August 9th. BNP Paribas raised Martin Marietta Materials to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, September 19th. Finally, StockNews.com cut shares of Martin Marietta Materials from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 25th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $619.36.

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.