Franklin Resources Inc. Cuts Stake in Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. (NYSE:MLM)

Franklin Resources Inc. decreased its position in Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. (NYSE:MLM) by 1.9% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 524,585 shares of the construction company’s stock after selling 10,216 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc.’s holdings in Martin Marietta Materials were worth $270,948,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC boosted its holdings in Martin Marietta Materials by 2.5% in the 3rd quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC now owns 782 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $421,000 after purchasing an additional 19 shares in the last quarter. Checchi Capital Advisers LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Martin Marietta Materials by 1.4% in the 4th quarter. Checchi Capital Advisers LLC now owns 1,336 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $690,000 after buying an additional 19 shares during the period. iA Global Asset Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Martin Marietta Materials by 3.6% in the 3rd quarter. iA Global Asset Management Inc. now owns 570 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $307,000 after buying an additional 20 shares during the period. Brooklyn Investment Group grew its holdings in Martin Marietta Materials by 4.7% during the fourth quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group now owns 447 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $231,000 after acquiring an additional 20 shares during the period. Finally, OLD National Bancorp IN grew its holdings in Martin Marietta Materials by 4.5% during the fourth quarter. OLD National Bancorp IN now owns 483 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $249,000 after acquiring an additional 21 shares during the period. 95.04% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have commented on MLM shares. Citigroup decreased their target price on shares of Martin Marietta Materials from $701.00 to $600.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Seaport Res Ptn upgraded shares of Martin Marietta Materials to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, March 21st. Loop Capital dropped their target price on shares of Martin Marietta Materials from $645.00 to $615.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday. Stifel Nicolaus began coverage on Martin Marietta Materials in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. They set a “buy” rating and a $559.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on Martin Marietta Materials from $657.00 to $622.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating, thirteen have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Martin Marietta Materials currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $626.50.

Martin Marietta Materials Trading Up 1.3 %

Martin Marietta Materials stock opened at $484.47 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $29.54 billion, a PE ratio of 14.99, a P/E/G ratio of 4.45 and a beta of 0.89. The company has a current ratio of 2.50, a quick ratio of 1.40 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $504.37 and a 200 day moving average price of $538.26. Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. has a 52 week low of $448.50 and a 52 week high of $633.23.

Martin Marietta Materials (NYSE:MLM) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 net margin of 30.54% and a return on equity of 12.11%. Equities research analysts predict that Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. will post 19.53 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Martin Marietta Materials Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 3rd were issued a dividend of $0.79 per share. This represents a $3.16 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.65%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 3rd. Martin Marietta Materials’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 9.77%.

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.