Blue Trust Inc. Has $89,000 Stock Holdings in Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. (NYSE:MLM)

Blue Trust Inc. cut its holdings in shares of Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. (NYSE:MLM) by 73.2% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 173 shares of the construction company’s stock after selling 473 shares during the period. Blue Trust Inc.’s holdings in Martin Marietta Materials were worth $89,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. V Square Quantitative Management LLC boosted its position in Martin Marietta Materials by 8.8% during the 4th quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC now owns 1,348 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $696,000 after buying an additional 109 shares during the period. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. boosted its position in Martin Marietta Materials by 36.7% during the 4th quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. now owns 31,142 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $16,469,000 after buying an additional 8,367 shares during the period. Castle Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in Martin Marietta Materials by 5.1% during the 4th quarter. Castle Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,077 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $556,000 after buying an additional 52 shares during the period. Marks Group Wealth Management Inc boosted its position in Martin Marietta Materials by 14.9% during the 4th quarter. Marks Group Wealth Management Inc now owns 812 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $419,000 after buying an additional 105 shares during the period. Finally, Leavell Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in Martin Marietta Materials by 15.1% during the 4th quarter. Leavell Investment Management Inc. now owns 4,661 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $2,407,000 after buying an additional 613 shares during the period. 95.04% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Raymond James dropped their price target on shares of Martin Marietta Materials from $630.00 to $600.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on shares of Martin Marietta Materials from $657.00 to $622.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. Barclays dropped their price target on shares of Martin Marietta Materials from $645.00 to $600.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Stephens dropped their price target on shares of Martin Marietta Materials from $675.00 to $650.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, Hsbc Global Res upgraded shares of Martin Marietta Materials from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating, fourteen have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Martin Marietta Materials currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $639.43.

Martin Marietta Materials Stock Performance

Shares of MLM stock opened at $489.94 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $29.95 billion, a PE ratio of 15.15, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.45 and a beta of 0.91. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $530.12 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $547.08. The company has a current ratio of 2.50, a quick ratio of 1.40 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56. Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. has a 12 month low of $482.72 and a 12 month high of $633.23.

Martin Marietta Materials (NYSE:MLM) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The construction company reported $4.79 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.62 by $0.17. Martin Marietta Materials had a net margin of 30.54% and a return on equity of 12.11%. Analysts forecast that Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. will post 19.53 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Martin Marietta Materials Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 3rd will be issued a $0.79 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 3rd. This represents a $3.16 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.64%. Martin Marietta Materials’s dividend payout ratio is currently 9.77%.

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.