Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. $MLM Shares Sold by London Co. of Virginia

London Co. of Virginia cut its holdings in shares of Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. (NYSE:MLM) by 5.9% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 174,104 shares of the construction company’s stock after selling 10,930 shares during the quarter. London Co. of Virginia’s holdings in Martin Marietta Materials were worth $109,734,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in Martin Marietta Materials by 1.3% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 7,442,945 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $4,691,139,000 after purchasing an additional 93,595 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its stake in Martin Marietta Materials by 0.4% in the second quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 2,955,139 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $1,622,254,000 after purchasing an additional 10,445 shares during the period. State Street Corp increased its stake in Martin Marietta Materials by 2.0% in the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 2,825,325 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $1,550,990,000 after purchasing an additional 56,353 shares during the period. Bank of America Corp DE raised its holdings in shares of Martin Marietta Materials by 1.1% in the third quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 2,365,832 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $1,491,136,000 after buying an additional 25,155 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Martin Marietta Materials by 9.6% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 2,204,425 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $1,389,428,000 after buying an additional 192,637 shares during the last quarter. 95.04% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Martin Marietta Materials Stock Up 0.3%

Shares of NYSE:MLM opened at $585.44 on Tuesday. Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $441.95 and a fifty-two week high of $710.97. The company has a quick ratio of 2.36, a current ratio of 3.57 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $653.10 and its 200-day simple moving average is $632.54. The company has a market cap of $35.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.14, a PEG ratio of 2.30 and a beta of 1.13.

Martin Marietta Materials (NYSE:MLM) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 11th. The construction company reported $4.62 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $4.81 by ($0.19). The firm had revenue of $1.53 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.66 billion. Martin Marietta Materials had a return on equity of 10.86% and a net margin of 17.38%.The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $4.79 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. will post 19.53 earnings per share for the current year.

Martin Marietta Materials Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 2nd will be paid a dividend of $0.83 per share. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 2nd. Martin Marietta Materials’s dividend payout ratio is 17.66%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MLM has been the topic of a number of research reports. B. Riley Financial initiated coverage on Martin Marietta Materials in a report on Thursday, January 15th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $700.00 price target on the stock. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on Martin Marietta Materials from $706.00 to $702.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, March 9th. Loop Capital cut Martin Marietta Materials from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $690.00 price objective for the company. in a research report on Wednesday, January 28th. Zacks Research downgraded Martin Marietta Materials from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Friday, February 13th. Finally, DA Davidson set a $680.00 target price on Martin Marietta Materials in a report on Thursday, February 12th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Martin Marietta Materials currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $696.88.

About Martin Marietta Materials

Martin Marietta Materials, Inc (NYSE: MLM) is a leading producer of aggregates and heavy building materials serving the construction and infrastructure markets. The company operates quarries, sand and gravel pits, and other extraction sites to supply crushed stone, sand and gravel, and a range of value‑added products for use in roads, bridges, commercial and residential construction, and other civil engineering projects.

In addition to its core aggregates business, Martin Marietta manufactures and sells asphalt, ready‑mixed concrete and related materials and services.