Mawer Investment Management Ltd. Sells 5,801 Shares of Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. (NYSE:MLM)

Mawer Investment Management Ltd. decreased its stake in shares of Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. (NYSE:MLM) by 2.0% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 277,687 shares of the construction company’s stock after selling 5,801 shares during the period. Mawer Investment Management Ltd.’s holdings in Martin Marietta Materials were worth $143,425,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Franklin Street Advisors Inc. NC lifted its stake in Martin Marietta Materials by 15.5% in the 4th quarter. Franklin Street Advisors Inc. NC now owns 25,242 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $13,037,000 after purchasing an additional 3,384 shares in the last quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC grew its position in Martin Marietta Materials by 18.5% during the third quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 8,220 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $4,914,000 after buying an additional 1,286 shares in the last quarter. RMR Wealth Builders increased its stake in Martin Marietta Materials by 431.3% in the 4th quarter. RMR Wealth Builders now owns 2,391 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $1,235,000 after acquiring an additional 1,941 shares during the last quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. boosted its position in shares of Martin Marietta Materials by 2,448.1% during the 3rd quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. now owns 1,376 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $741,000 after acquiring an additional 1,322 shares during the last quarter. Finally, InTrack Investment Management Inc boosted its position in shares of Martin Marietta Materials by 33.9% during the 4th quarter. InTrack Investment Management Inc now owns 3,446 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $1,784,000 after acquiring an additional 872 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 95.04% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MLM has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on shares of Martin Marietta Materials from $657.00 to $622.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Martin Marietta Materials from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 20th. Stephens dropped their price target on Martin Marietta Materials from $675.00 to $650.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Barclays reduced their price objective on Martin Marietta Materials from $645.00 to $600.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, Seaport Res Ptn raised Martin Marietta Materials to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, March 21st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating, thirteen have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $628.64.

Martin Marietta Materials Stock Down 1.3 %

Shares of NYSE:MLM opened at $477.92 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $507.03 and its 200 day moving average is $538.56. The company has a market cap of $29.14 billion, a PE ratio of 14.78, a P/E/G ratio of 4.45 and a beta of 0.89. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56, a current ratio of 2.50 and a quick ratio of 1.40. Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. has a 1 year low of $448.50 and a 1 year high of $633.23.

Martin Marietta Materials (NYSE:MLM) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The construction company reported $4.79 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.62 by $0.17. Martin Marietta Materials had a return on equity of 12.11% and a net margin of 30.54%. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. will post 19.53 EPS for the current year.

Martin Marietta Materials Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Activity at Martin Marietta Materials

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