Virtu Financial LLC Increases Stock Holdings in Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. (NYSE:MLM)

Virtu Financial LLC lifted its holdings in Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. (NYSE:MLM) by 13.1% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 6,252 shares of the construction company’s stock after buying an additional 725 shares during the quarter. Virtu Financial LLC’s holdings in Martin Marietta Materials were worth $3,229,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Lee Danner & Bass Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Martin Marietta Materials in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Whipplewood Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Martin Marietta Materials in the fourth quarter valued at $32,000. Kestra Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in Martin Marietta Materials in the fourth quarter valued at $35,000. Hopwood Financial Services Inc. purchased a new stake in Martin Marietta Materials during the fourth quarter valued at about $36,000. Finally, EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Martin Marietta Materials by 91.9% in the fourth quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 71 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $37,000 after buying an additional 34 shares during the period. 95.04% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently commented on MLM. Loop Capital cut their price target on Martin Marietta Materials from $680.00 to $645.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Stifel Nicolaus started coverage on Martin Marietta Materials in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $559.00 price target on the stock. Barclays cut their target price on Martin Marietta Materials from $645.00 to $600.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Hsbc Global Res upgraded Martin Marietta Materials from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. Finally, StockNews.com cut Martin Marietta Materials from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Thursday, February 20th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating, thirteen have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $628.64.

Martin Marietta Materials Trading Down 1.3 %

Martin Marietta Materials stock opened at $477.49 on Friday. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $511.26 and a 200-day moving average of $539.18. Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. has a one year low of $448.50 and a one year high of $633.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56, a current ratio of 2.50 and a quick ratio of 1.40. The company has a market cap of $29.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.77, a P/E/G ratio of 4.45 and a beta of 0.89.

Martin Marietta Materials (NYSE:MLM) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 12th. The construction company reported $4.79 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.62 by $0.17. Martin Marietta Materials had a net margin of 30.54% and a return on equity of 12.11%. On average, equities analysts expect that Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. will post 19.53 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Martin Marietta Materials Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 3rd will be given a $0.79 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 3rd. This represents a $3.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.66%. Martin Marietta Materials’s dividend payout ratio is currently 9.77%.

Insider Transactions at Martin Marietta Materials

In related news, SVP Michael J. Petro purchased 550 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 4th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $454.37 per share, with a total value of $249,903.50. Following the completion of the purchase, the senior vice president now owns 8,985 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,082,514.45. This trade represents a 6.52 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Donald A. Mccunniff sold 1,332 shares of Martin Marietta Materials stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $475.00, for a total transaction of $632,700.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 3,523 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,673,425. This trade represents a 27.44 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.68% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.