Peregrine Asset Advisers Inc. Purchases New Position in Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. (NYSE:MLM)

Peregrine Asset Advisers Inc. acquired a new stake in Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. (NYSE:MLM) in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor acquired 447 shares of the construction company’s stock, valued at approximately $223,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Apollon Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in Martin Marietta Materials by 5.5% in the 4th quarter. Apollon Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,678 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $1,336,000 after buying an additional 139 shares during the last quarter. Lincoln National Corp boosted its position in Martin Marietta Materials by 7.0% in the 4th quarter. Lincoln National Corp now owns 1,379 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $688,000 after buying an additional 90 shares during the last quarter. Machina Capital S.A.S. purchased a new position in Martin Marietta Materials in the 4th quarter valued at about $782,000. Private Advisor Group LLC boosted its position in Martin Marietta Materials by 53.3% in the 4th quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 1,202 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $600,000 after buying an additional 418 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Spire Wealth Management boosted its position in Martin Marietta Materials by 68.7% in the 4th quarter. Spire Wealth Management now owns 788 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $399,000 after buying an additional 321 shares during the last quarter. 95.04% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Martin Marietta Materials

In other Martin Marietta Materials news, CEO C Howard Nye sold 15,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $604.26, for a total value of $9,063,900.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 134,640 shares in the company, valued at $81,357,566.40. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other Martin Marietta Materials 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 value of $936,959.52. Following the sale, the director now owns 19,793 shares in the company, valued at $10,757,099.64. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through 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 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 owns 134,640 shares in the company, valued at approximately $81,357,566.40. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 26,724 shares of company stock worth $16,033,760. 0.68% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Martin Marietta Materials Stock Performance

NYSE MLM traded up $8.76 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $599.79. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 359,317 shares, compared to its average volume of 419,130. The company has a current ratio of 3.16, a quick ratio of 2.41 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.44. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $599.40 and a 200 day simple moving average of $524.28. Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. has a 52 week low of $389.90 and a 52 week high of $626.67. The stock has a market cap of $36.97 billion, a PE ratio of 17.77, a PEG ratio of 2.80 and a beta of 0.95.

Martin Marietta Materials (NYSE:MLM) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, April 30th. The construction company reported $1.93 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.88 by $0.05. Martin Marietta Materials had a net margin of 31.35% and a return on equity of 14.74%. The firm had revenue of $1.25 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.31 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $2.16 earnings per share. Martin Marietta Materials’s revenue was down 7.6% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts predict that Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. will post 21.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Martin Marietta Materials Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 4th were paid a $0.74 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 1st. This represents a $2.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.49%. Martin Marietta Materials’s payout ratio is currently 8.77%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have weighed in on MLM. HSBC raised shares of Martin Marietta Materials from a “reduce” rating to a “hold” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $376.00 to $543.00 in a research report on Thursday, February 22nd. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price target on shares of Martin Marietta Materials from $642.00 to $737.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 16th. Stephens increased their price target on shares of Martin Marietta Materials from $575.00 to $605.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $600.00 price target (up previously from $530.00) on shares of Martin Marietta Materials in a research report on Friday, March 22nd. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus increased their price target on shares of Martin Marietta Materials from $621.00 to $650.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, April 15th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $598.17.

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.