Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. (NYSE:MLM) Shares Purchased by Principal Financial Group Inc.

Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its holdings in Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. (NYSE:MLM) by 11.7% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 1,819,744 shares of the construction company’s stock after acquiring an additional 191,043 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned 2.98% of Martin Marietta Materials worth $939,898,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of MLM. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC acquired a new position in Martin Marietta Materials in the 3rd quarter valued at $209,000. Vontobel Holding Ltd. raised its holdings in Martin Marietta Materials by 6.4% in the 3rd quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. now owns 810 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $436,000 after acquiring an additional 49 shares during the last quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC raised its holdings in Martin Marietta Materials by 24.1% in the 3rd quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 844 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $454,000 after acquiring an additional 164 shares during the last quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC raised its holdings in Martin Marietta Materials by 3.0% in the 3rd quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC now owns 2,817 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $1,516,000 after acquiring an additional 83 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd increased its holdings in shares of Martin Marietta Materials by 0.9% during the 3rd quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd now owns 6,602 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $3,554,000 after buying an additional 62 shares during the last quarter. 95.04% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently commented on MLM. Barclays dropped their price objective on Martin Marietta Materials from $645.00 to $600.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday. StockNews.com downgraded Martin Marietta Materials from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Saturday, February 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded Martin Marietta Materials from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $515.00 to $640.00 in a report on Wednesday, November 27th. Hsbc Global Res upgraded Martin Marietta Materials from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. Finally, Stephens decreased their price target on shares of Martin Marietta Materials from $675.00 to $650.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating, fourteen have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $639.43.

Martin Marietta Materials Stock Performance

NYSE:MLM opened at $527.47 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $32.24 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.44, a PEG ratio of 4.62 and a beta of 0.91. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $534.69 and a two-hundred day moving average of $548.62. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a current ratio of 2.34 and a quick ratio of 1.24. Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. has a 1-year low of $482.72 and a 1-year high of $633.23.

Martin Marietta Materials (NYSE:MLM) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The construction company reported $4.79 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.62 by $0.17. Martin Marietta Materials had a net margin of 30.47% and a return on equity of 12.53%. On average, research analysts expect that Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. will post 17.57 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.