Machina Capital S.A.S. Invests $782,000 in Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. (NYSE:MLM)

Machina Capital S.A.S. purchased a new position in shares of Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. (NYSE:MLM) in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor purchased 1,568 shares of the construction company’s stock, valued at approximately $782,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC boosted its holdings in Martin Marietta Materials by 1.2% during the 3rd quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 7,900 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $3,243,000 after acquiring an additional 97 shares during the last quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in Martin Marietta Materials by 9.9% during the third quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 6,834 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $2,805,000 after purchasing an additional 615 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James & Associates grew its position in Martin Marietta Materials by 44.2% in the 3rd quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 96,250 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $39,509,000 after purchasing an additional 29,522 shares in the last quarter. Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. purchased a new stake in Martin Marietta Materials in the 3rd quarter valued at about $430,000. Finally, Forsta AP Fonden lifted its position in shares of Martin Marietta Materials by 4.3% during the 3rd quarter. Forsta AP Fonden now owns 12,200 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $5,008,000 after buying an additional 500 shares in the last quarter. 95.04% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Martin Marietta Materials Price Performance

Shares of MLM stock traded down $0.98 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $598.81. The stock had a trading volume of 331,141 shares, compared to its average volume of 418,113. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $599.40 and its 200 day simple moving average is $524.28. The firm has a market capitalization of $36.91 billion, a PE ratio of 17.77, a PEG ratio of 2.80 and a beta of 0.95. Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. has a 12 month low of $389.90 and a 12 month high of $626.67. The company has a current ratio of 3.16, a quick ratio of 2.41 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.44.

Martin Marietta Materials (NYSE:MLM) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 30th. The construction company reported $1.93 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.88 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $1.25 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.31 billion. Martin Marietta Materials had a net margin of 31.35% and a return on equity of 14.74%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 7.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $2.16 EPS. On average, equities research analysts predict that Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. will post 21.7 EPS for the current year.

Martin Marietta Materials Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 4th were paid a $0.74 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 1st. This represents a $2.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.49%. Martin Marietta Materials’s dividend payout ratio is currently 8.77%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Sue W. Cole sold 1,724 shares of Martin Marietta Materials stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $543.48, for a total transaction of $936,959.52. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 19,793 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,757,099.64. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other news, Director Sue W. Cole sold 1,724 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $543.48, for a total transaction of $936,959.52. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 19,793 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,757,099.64. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Roselyn R. Bar sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $603.29, for a total value of $6,032,900.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 59,970 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $36,179,301.30. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 26,724 shares of company stock worth $16,033,760 in the last ninety days. 0.68% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MLM has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Morgan Stanley started coverage on Martin Marietta Materials in a research report on Monday, January 8th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $595.00 price target for the company. Raymond James increased their price target on shares of Martin Marietta Materials from $505.00 to $555.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 25th. Truist Financial lifted their price objective on shares of Martin Marietta Materials from $610.00 to $700.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 2nd. Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price on shares of Martin Marietta Materials from $621.00 to $650.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, April 15th. Finally, HSBC raised shares of Martin Marietta Materials from a “reduce” rating to a “hold” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $376.00 to $543.00 in a report on Thursday, February 22nd. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $598.17.

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.