Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd Boosts Stock Holdings in Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. (NYSE:MLM)

Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd boosted its position in shares of Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. (NYSE:MLM) by 1.5% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 5,739 shares of the construction company’s stock after buying an additional 85 shares during the period. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd’s holdings in Martin Marietta Materials were worth $2,863,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Schear Investment Advisers LLC grew its position in shares of Martin Marietta Materials by 1.2% in the fourth quarter. Schear Investment Advisers LLC now owns 1,647 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $822,000 after purchasing an additional 20 shares in the last quarter. Independence Bank of Kentucky grew its position in shares of 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 in the last quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC grew its position in shares of 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 in the last quarter. Spreng Capital Management Inc. lifted 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 acquiring an additional 23 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Park Place Capital Corp lifted 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 acquiring an additional 25 shares during the last quarter. 95.04% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Martin Marietta Materials

In related news, Director Sue W. Cole sold 1,724 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $543.48, for a total value of $936,959.52. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 19,793 shares in the company, valued at $10,757,099.64. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other 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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 134,640 shares in the company, valued at approximately $81,357,566.40. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Sue W. Cole sold 1,724 shares of Martin Marietta Materials 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 sale, the director now owns 19,793 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,757,099.64. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 26,724 shares of company stock worth $16,033,760 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.59% of the company’s stock.

Martin Marietta Materials Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:MLM opened at $594.68 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 2.50, a current ratio of 3.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49. The company has a market cap of $36.70 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.58, a PEG ratio of 2.83 and a beta of 0.96. Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. has a 52 week low of $343.79 and a 52 week high of $626.67. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $589.77 and a 200 day moving average price of $513.61.

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

Martin Marietta Materials Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 28th. Investors of record on Monday, March 4th were given 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 0.50%. Martin Marietta Materials’s payout ratio is currently 15.72%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts recently commented on MLM shares. Citigroup upped their price objective on Martin Marietta Materials from $635.00 to $708.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, April 5th. Truist Financial increased their target price on Martin Marietta Materials from $610.00 to $700.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 2nd. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their target price on Martin Marietta Materials from $642.00 to $737.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 16th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on Martin Marietta Materials from $621.00 to $650.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, April 15th. Finally, Stephens raised their price objective on Martin Marietta Materials from $575.00 to $605.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, February 16th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Martin Marietta Materials presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $588.69.

Martin Marietta Materials 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.