Russell Investments Group Ltd. Has $57.38 Million Holdings in Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. (NYSE:MLM)

Russell Investments Group Ltd. raised its position in shares of Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. (NYSE:MLM) by 76.5% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 110,943 shares of the construction company’s stock after acquiring an additional 48,080 shares during the period. Russell Investments Group Ltd.’s holdings in Martin Marietta Materials were worth $57,375,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Lee Danner & Bass Inc. bought a new stake in Martin Marietta Materials in the 4th quarter valued at $28,000. Whipplewood Advisors LLC bought a new position in Martin Marietta Materials during the 4th quarter worth $32,000. Kestra Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Martin Marietta Materials during the fourth quarter worth $35,000. Hopwood Financial Services Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Martin Marietta Materials in the fourth quarter valued at about $36,000. Finally, EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC increased its position in Martin Marietta Materials by 91.9% during the fourth quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 71 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $37,000 after acquiring an additional 34 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 95.04% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have issued reports on the stock. HSBC raised shares of Martin Marietta Materials from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $690.00 price objective for the company in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut Martin Marietta Materials from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their price target for the company from $640.00 to $560.00 in a research note on Wednesday, March 19th. Hsbc Global Res upgraded Martin Marietta Materials from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. Stifel Nicolaus started coverage on Martin Marietta Materials in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. They set a “buy” rating and a $559.00 target price for the company. Finally, Wolfe Research upgraded Martin Marietta Materials from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $563.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $626.50.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Donald A. Mccunniff sold 1,332 shares of Martin Marietta Materials stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $475.00, for a total transaction of $632,700.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 3,523 shares in the company, valued at $1,673,425. This trade represents 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 firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 4th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $454.37 per share, with a total value of $249,903.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 8,985 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,082,514.45. This trade represents a 6.52 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders own 0.68% of the company’s stock.

Martin Marietta Materials Trading Down 3.0 %

MLM opened at $470.33 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $28.68 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.55, a PEG ratio of 4.45 and a beta of 0.81. 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 company’s 50 day moving average is $500.39 and its 200-day moving average is $537.21. Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. has a 1-year low of $430.00 and a 1-year high of $633.23.

Martin Marietta Materials (NYSE:MLM) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The construction company reported $4.79 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.62 by $0.17. Martin Marietta Materials had a net margin of 30.54% and a return on equity of 12.11%. Equities research analysts predict that Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. will post 19.53 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Martin Marietta Materials Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Monday, March 3rd were given a dividend of $0.79 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 3rd. This represents a $3.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.67%. Martin Marietta Materials’s dividend payout ratio is currently 9.77%.

Martin Marietta Materials Company 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.