Handelsbanken Fonder AB Sells 1,580 Shares of Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. (NYSE:MLM)

Handelsbanken Fonder AB trimmed its position in Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. (NYSE:MLM) by 4.7% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 31,788 shares of the construction company’s stock after selling 1,580 shares during the period. Handelsbanken Fonder AB’s holdings in Martin Marietta Materials were worth $15,859,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Schear Investment Advisers LLC lifted its stake in shares of Martin Marietta Materials by 1.2% in the 4th quarter. Schear Investment Advisers LLC now owns 1,647 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $822,000 after acquiring an additional 20 shares during the last quarter. Independence Bank of Kentucky increased its holdings in Martin Marietta Materials by 16.9% in the fourth quarter. Independence Bank of Kentucky now owns 152 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $76,000 after purchasing an additional 22 shares during the period. Global Retirement Partners LLC increased its holdings in Martin Marietta Materials by 5.0% in the fourth quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 460 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $228,000 after purchasing an additional 22 shares during the period. Spreng Capital Management Inc. increased its holdings in Martin Marietta Materials by 3.1% in the fourth quarter. Spreng Capital Management Inc. now owns 775 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $387,000 after purchasing an additional 23 shares during the period. Finally, Park Place Capital Corp increased its holdings in Martin Marietta Materials by 11.3% in the fourth quarter. Park Place Capital Corp now owns 247 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $123,000 after purchasing an additional 25 shares during the period. 95.04% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Martin Marietta Materials news, CEO C Howard Nye sold 15,000 shares of Martin Marietta Materials stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 5th. The shares were 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 owns 134,640 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $81,357,566.40. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. In other news, Director Sue W. Cole sold 1,724 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 16th. The shares were 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 document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO C Howard Nye sold 15,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the chief executive officer now owns 134,640 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $81,357,566.40. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 26,724 shares of company stock valued at $16,033,760 in the last 90 days. 0.59% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MLM has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Truist Financial increased their price objective on Martin Marietta Materials from $610.00 to $700.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $600.00 price target (up from $530.00) on shares of Martin Marietta Materials in a report on Friday, March 22nd. Raymond James increased their price target on Martin Marietta Materials from $505.00 to $555.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, January 25th. HSBC upgraded Martin Marietta Materials from a “reduce” rating to a “hold” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $376.00 to $543.00 in a report on Thursday, February 22nd. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus increased their price target on Martin Marietta Materials from $621.00 to $650.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, April 15th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Martin Marietta Materials presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $588.69.

Martin Marietta Materials Price Performance

Shares of NYSE MLM opened at $594.68 on Wednesday. Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $343.79 and a fifty-two week high of $626.67. The stock has a market cap of $36.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.58, a PEG ratio of 2.83 and a beta of 0.96. 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 firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $589.77 and its 200 day simple moving average is $513.61.

Martin Marietta Materials (NYSE:MLM) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 14th. The construction company reported $4.63 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.96 by $0.67. Martin Marietta Materials had a net margin of 17.25% and a return on equity of 15.77%. The business had revenue of $1.61 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.62 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $3.04 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. will post 21.24 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Martin Marietta Materials Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 4th were given a dividend of $0.74 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 1st. This represents a $2.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.50%. Martin Marietta Materials’s dividend payout ratio is currently 15.72%.

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.