Allstate Corp Invests $937,000 in Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. (NYSE:MLM)

Allstate Corp purchased a new stake in shares of Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. (NYSE:MLM) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 1,815 shares of the construction company’s stock, valued at approximately $937,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of MLM. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Martin Marietta Materials by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 7,174,183 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $3,705,466,000 after buying an additional 36,531 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its holdings in Martin Marietta Materials by 23.3% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 2,678,425 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $1,441,663,000 after acquiring an additional 506,705 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its position in Martin Marietta Materials by 11.7% during the 4th quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,819,744 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $939,898,000 after purchasing an additional 191,043 shares during the period. Amundi raised its holdings in Martin Marietta Materials by 10.5% in the 4th quarter. Amundi now owns 1,562,146 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $808,005,000 after purchasing an additional 148,065 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Proficio Capital Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of Martin Marietta Materials by 54,277.3% in the 4th quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 918,432 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $474,370,000 after purchasing an additional 916,743 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 95.04% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Martin Marietta Materials

In other Martin Marietta Materials news, EVP Donald A. Mccunniff sold 1,332 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 represents a 27.44 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, SVP Michael J. Petro purchased 550 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 4th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $454.37 per share, for a total transaction of $249,903.50. Following the purchase, the senior vice president now directly owns 8,985 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,082,514.45. The trade was a 6.52 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Company insiders own 0.68% of the company’s stock.

Martin Marietta Materials Stock Up 0.1 %

Shares of Martin Marietta Materials stock opened at $478.39 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.40, a current ratio of 2.50 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56. Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. has a twelve month low of $448.50 and a twelve month high of $633.23. The company has a market cap of $29.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.80, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.45 and a beta of 0.89. The company’s 50 day moving average is $505.73 and its 200 day moving average is $538.52.

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

Martin Marietta Materials Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 3rd were given a dividend of $0.79 per share. This represents a $3.16 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.66%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 3rd. Martin Marietta Materials’s payout ratio is currently 9.77%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MLM has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Stifel Nicolaus assumed coverage on shares of Martin Marietta Materials in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. They set a “buy” rating and a $559.00 price target on the stock. StockNews.com lowered Martin Marietta Materials from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 20th. Stephens reduced their target price on shares of Martin Marietta Materials from $675.00 to $650.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on 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. Finally, Raymond James lowered their price objective on Martin Marietta Materials from $630.00 to $600.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating, thirteen have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Martin Marietta Materials presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $628.64.

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.