Prudential Financial Inc. Decreases Stake in Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. (NYSE:MLM)

Prudential Financial Inc. lowered its stake in Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. (NYSE:MLM) by 14.2% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 32,664 shares of the construction company’s stock after selling 5,392 shares during the quarter. Prudential Financial Inc. owned 0.05% of Martin Marietta Materials worth $16,871,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC raised its holdings in Martin Marietta Materials by 2.5% during the 3rd quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC now owns 782 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $421,000 after buying an additional 19 shares during the last quarter. Checchi Capital Advisers LLC grew its holdings in Martin Marietta Materials by 1.4% in the 4th quarter. Checchi Capital Advisers LLC now owns 1,336 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $690,000 after acquiring an additional 19 shares during the last quarter. iA Global Asset Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Martin Marietta Materials by 3.6% in the third quarter. iA Global Asset Management Inc. now owns 570 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $307,000 after acquiring an additional 20 shares during the period. Brooklyn Investment Group raised its stake in shares of Martin Marietta Materials by 4.7% during the fourth quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group now owns 447 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $231,000 after acquiring an additional 20 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Financial Counselors Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Martin Marietta Materials by 1.9% during the third quarter. Financial Counselors Inc. now owns 1,123 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $604,000 after purchasing an additional 21 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 95.04% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Donald A. Mccunniff sold 1,332 shares of the firm’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 transaction of $632,700.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 3,523 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,673,425. This trade represents a 27.44 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, SVP Michael J. Petro acquired 550 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 4th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $454.37 per share, for a total transaction of $249,903.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly 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 currently owned by company insiders.

Martin Marietta Materials Price Performance

Shares of NYSE MLM opened at $485.04 on Friday. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $508.34 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $538.54. Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $448.50 and a fifty-two week high of $633.23. The company has a market capitalization of $29.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.00, a P/E/G ratio of 4.45 and a beta of 0.89. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56, a quick ratio of 1.40 and a current ratio of 2.50.

Martin Marietta Materials (NYSE:MLM) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 return on equity of 12.11% and a net margin of 30.54%. Analysts expect that Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. will post 19.53 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Martin Marietta Materials Dividend Announcement

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on MLM. Seaport Res Ptn upgraded Martin Marietta Materials to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. StockNews.com cut Martin Marietta Materials from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 20th. Loop Capital dropped their price target on Martin Marietta Materials from $680.00 to $645.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Raymond James reduced 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. Finally, Citigroup dropped their target price on shares of Martin Marietta Materials from $701.00 to $600.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, January 6th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating, thirteen have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price 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.