CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC Decreases Holdings in Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. (NYSE:MLM)

CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC lessened its stake in shares of Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. (NYSE:MLM) by 2.6% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 473,612 shares of the construction company’s stock after selling 12,542 shares during the quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC’s holdings in Martin Marietta Materials were worth $244,976,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in MLM. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Martin Marietta Materials by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 7,174,183 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $3,705,466,000 after purchasing an additional 36,531 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its stake in shares of Martin Marietta Materials by 23.3% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 2,678,425 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $1,441,663,000 after acquiring an additional 506,705 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its holdings in Martin Marietta Materials by 11.7% in the 4th quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,819,744 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $939,898,000 after acquiring an additional 191,043 shares during the last quarter. Amundi raised its stake in Martin Marietta Materials by 10.5% in the 4th quarter. Amundi now owns 1,562,146 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $808,005,000 after acquiring an additional 148,065 shares during the period. Finally, Proficio Capital Partners LLC lifted its holdings in Martin Marietta Materials by 54,277.3% during the fourth quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 918,432 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $474,370,000 after purchasing an additional 916,743 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 95.04% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Martin Marietta Materials

In other news, EVP Donald A. Mccunniff sold 1,332 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 5th. The stock was 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 directly owns 3,523 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,673,425. This represents a 27.44 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, SVP Michael J. Petro acquired 550 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 4th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $454.37 per share, for a total transaction of $249,903.50. Following the completion of the acquisition, the senior vice president now owns 8,985 shares in the company, valued at $4,082,514.45. This represents a 6.52 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 0.68% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MLM has been the subject of several recent research reports. BNP Paribas downgraded shares of Martin Marietta Materials from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on shares of Martin Marietta Materials from $657.00 to $622.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. Stephens dropped their target price on 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. Stifel Nicolaus began coverage on Martin Marietta Materials in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $559.00 price target for the company. Finally, Citigroup dropped their price objective on Martin Marietta Materials from $701.00 to $600.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, January 6th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $628.64.

Martin Marietta Materials Stock Down 1.3 %

Shares of NYSE MLM opened at $477.92 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 2.50, a quick ratio of 1.40 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56. The business has a 50-day moving average of $507.03 and a 200-day moving average of $538.56. The firm has a market capitalization of $29.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.78, a PEG 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.

Martin Marietta Materials (NYSE:MLM) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The construction company reported $4.79 earnings per share (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%. Sell-side analysts expect that Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. will post 19.53 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Martin Marietta Materials Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Monday, March 3rd will be given a $0.79 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 3rd. This represents a $3.16 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.66%. Martin Marietta Materials’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.