Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. (NYSE:MLM) Shares Bought by Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC

Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC raised its position in Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. (NYSE:MLM) by 514.8% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 6,449 shares of the construction company’s stock after acquiring an additional 5,400 shares during the quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC’s holdings in Martin Marietta Materials were worth $3,217,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Independence Bank of Kentucky boosted its stake in shares of Martin Marietta Materials by 16.9% during the 4th quarter. Independence Bank of Kentucky now owns 152 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $76,000 after buying an additional 22 shares during the last quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of Martin Marietta Materials by 5.0% during the 4th quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 460 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $228,000 after buying an additional 22 shares during the last quarter. Spreng Capital Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Martin Marietta Materials by 3.1% during the 4th quarter. Spreng Capital Management Inc. now owns 775 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $387,000 after buying an additional 23 shares during the last quarter. Park Place Capital Corp boosted its stake in shares of Martin Marietta Materials by 11.3% during the 4th quarter. Park Place Capital Corp now owns 247 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $123,000 after buying an additional 25 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Simon Quick Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Martin Marietta Materials by 0.7% during the 4th quarter. Simon Quick Advisors LLC now owns 4,031 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $2,011,000 after buying an additional 27 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 95.04% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MLM has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Citigroup increased their target price on Martin Marietta Materials from $635.00 to $708.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, April 5th. Raymond James increased their target price on Martin Marietta Materials from $505.00 to $555.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 25th. HSBC upgraded Martin Marietta Materials from a “reduce” rating to a “hold” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $376.00 to $543.00 in a research note on Thursday, February 22nd. Wolfe Research cut Martin Marietta Materials from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research note on Friday, March 8th. Finally, StockNews.com cut Martin Marietta Materials from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, February 9th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $577.38.

Martin Marietta Materials Stock Performance

MLM stock opened at $607.08 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a quick ratio of 2.50 and a current ratio of 3.35. The stock has a market capitalization of $37.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.24, a PEG ratio of 2.96 and a beta of 0.96. Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. has a 1 year low of $343.71 and a 1 year high of $626.67. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $578.75 and its two-hundred day moving average is $502.34.

Martin Marietta Materials (NYSE:MLM) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 14th. The construction company reported $4.63 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.96 by $0.67. The company had revenue of $1.61 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.62 billion. Martin Marietta Materials had a return on equity of 15.77% and a net margin of 17.25%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 8.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $3.04 earnings per share. On average, research analysts predict that Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. will post 21.09 EPS for the current year.

Martin Marietta Materials Dividend Announcement

The business 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. This represents a $2.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.49%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 1st. Martin Marietta Materials’s payout ratio is 15.72%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Martin Marietta Materials

In other news, EVP Roselyn R. Bar sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $603.29, for a total transaction of $6,032,900.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 59,970 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $36,179,301.30. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, CEO C Howard Nye sold 15,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $604.26, for a total transaction of $9,063,900.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 134,640 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $81,357,566.40. 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 firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $603.29, for a total value of $6,032,900.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 59,970 shares in the company, valued at $36,179,301.30. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 26,724 shares of company stock worth $16,033,760. 0.61% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.