Whittier Trust Co. Purchases 994 Shares of Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. (NYSE:MLM)

Whittier Trust Co. lifted its position in shares of Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. (NYSE:MLM) by 6.8% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 15,647 shares of the construction company’s stock after purchasing an additional 994 shares during the period. Whittier Trust Co.’s holdings in Martin Marietta Materials were worth $8,082,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in MLM. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Martin Marietta Materials by 76.2% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,628,701 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $876,648,000 after purchasing an additional 704,460 shares in the last quarter. Quest Partners LLC raised its position in Martin Marietta Materials by 57.8% in the third quarter. Quest Partners LLC now owns 1,504 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $810,000 after acquiring an additional 551 shares during the period. Caprock Group LLC raised its position in Martin Marietta Materials by 6.2% in the third quarter. Caprock Group LLC now owns 1,923 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $1,035,000 after acquiring an additional 113 shares during the period. Prospera Financial Services Inc raised its position in Martin Marietta Materials by 55.1% in the third quarter. Prospera Financial Services Inc now owns 833 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $449,000 after acquiring an additional 296 shares during the period. Finally, Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC raised its position in Martin Marietta Materials by 24.8% in the third quarter. Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 744 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $400,000 after acquiring an additional 148 shares during the period. 95.04% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Martin Marietta Materials Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:MLM opened at $483.84 on Friday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $511.89 and a 200 day moving average of $539.58. The stock has a market cap of $29.50 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.97, a P/E/G ratio of 4.45 and a beta of 0.89. Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. has a 12 month low of $448.50 and a 12 month high of $633.23. 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 (NYSE:MLM) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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%. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. will post 19.53 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Martin Marietta Materials Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Monday, March 3rd will be paid a dividend of $0.79 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 3rd. This represents a $3.16 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.65%. Martin Marietta Materials’s dividend payout ratio is currently 9.77%.

Insider Activity at Martin Marietta Materials

In other Martin Marietta Materials news, EVP Donald A. Mccunniff sold 1,332 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $475.00, for a total value of $632,700.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 3,523 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,673,425. The trade was a 27.44 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, SVP Michael J. Petro purchased 550 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 4th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $454.37 per share, with a total value of $249,903.50. Following the purchase, the senior vice president now owns 8,985 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,082,514.45. This represents a 6.52 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 0.68% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MLM has been the topic of several research reports. HSBC raised shares of Martin Marietta Materials from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $690.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. Hsbc Global Res raised shares of Martin Marietta Materials from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. Raymond James lowered their price objective 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. Wolfe Research raised shares of Martin Marietta Materials from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $563.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. downgraded shares of Martin Marietta Materials from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their target price for the stock from $640.00 to $560.00 in a research note on Wednesday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating, thirteen have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Martin Marietta Materials currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $628.64.

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.