California Public Employees Retirement System Sells 4,005 Shares of Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. (NYSE:MLM)

California Public Employees Retirement System lessened its stake in shares of Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. (NYSE:MLM) by 3.4% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 113,920 shares of the construction company’s stock after selling 4,005 shares during the quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System owned about 0.18% of Martin Marietta Materials worth $56,836,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. FMR LLC boosted its stake in Martin Marietta Materials by 225.3% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,833,959 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $752,803,000 after purchasing an additional 1,270,116 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its stake in Martin Marietta Materials by 9.7% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 2,042,537 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $838,421,000 after purchasing an additional 181,136 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. boosted its stake in Martin Marietta Materials by 22.6% during the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 570,193 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $234,053,000 after purchasing an additional 104,981 shares during the period. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd bought a new stake in Martin Marietta Materials during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $34,736,000. Finally, Jennison Associates LLC boosted its stake in Martin Marietta Materials by 96.6% during the 4th quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 157,904 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $78,780,000 after purchasing an additional 77,596 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 95.04% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Martin Marietta Materials

In other Martin Marietta Materials news, CEO C Howard Nye sold 15,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $604.26, for a total value of $9,063,900.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 134,640 shares in the company, valued at approximately $81,357,566.40. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 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 value of $9,063,900.00. Following the transaction, 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 filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed 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 stock was sold at an average price of $603.29, for a total value of $6,032,900.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 59,970 shares in the company, valued at approximately $36,179,301.30. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 26,724 shares of company stock worth $16,033,760. Insiders own 0.61% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MLM has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $600.00 price target (up previously from $530.00) on shares of Martin Marietta Materials in a report on Friday, March 22nd. Citigroup upped their price target on Martin Marietta Materials from $635.00 to $708.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, April 5th. Stephens upped their price target on Martin Marietta Materials from $575.00 to $605.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, February 16th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus upped their price target on Martin Marietta Materials from $621.00 to $650.00 and gave the company 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 MarketBeat, Martin Marietta Materials has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $588.69.

Martin Marietta Materials Stock Up 0.9 %

NYSE MLM opened at $597.07 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $36.85 billion, a PE ratio of 31.71, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 0.96. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a current ratio of 3.35 and a quick ratio of 2.50. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $592.06 and its 200 day simple moving average is $514.74. Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. has a one year low of $343.79 and a one year high of $626.67.

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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.62 billion. Martin Marietta Materials had a return on equity of 15.77% and a net margin of 17.25%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 8.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $3.04 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. will post 21.24 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Martin Marietta Materials Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 28th. Shareholders 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 15.72%.

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.