New York State Common Retirement Fund Decreases Stock Holdings in Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. (NYSE:MLM)

New York State Common Retirement Fund lessened its position in shares of Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. (NYSE:MLM) by 7.1% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 64,557 shares of the construction company’s stock after selling 4,927 shares during the quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund owned about 0.10% of Martin Marietta Materials worth $32,208,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Pinnacle Bancorp Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Martin Marietta Materials during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $26,000. MV Capital Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Martin Marietta Materials by 144.4% during the 3rd quarter. MV Capital Management Inc. now owns 66 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $27,000 after buying an additional 39 shares during the period. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Martin Marietta Materials during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Covestor Ltd raised its position in shares of Martin Marietta Materials by 84.6% during the 3rd quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 72 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $30,000 after buying an additional 33 shares during the period. Finally, Oliver Lagore Vanvalin Investment Group raised its position in shares of Martin Marietta Materials by 74.3% during the 4th quarter. Oliver Lagore Vanvalin Investment Group now owns 61 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $30,000 after buying an additional 26 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 95.04% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Sue W. Cole sold 1,724 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $543.48, for a total transaction of $936,959.52. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 19,793 shares in the company, valued at $10,757,099.64. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related news, EVP Roselyn R. Bar sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $603.29, for a total transaction of $6,032,900.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 59,970 shares in the company, valued at $36,179,301.30. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Sue W. Cole sold 1,724 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $543.48, for a total transaction of $936,959.52. Following the transaction, the director now owns 19,793 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,757,099.64. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 26,724 shares of company stock worth $16,033,760. Corporate insiders own 0.61% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have recently commented on the stock. Raymond James lifted their price target on shares of Martin Marietta Materials from $505.00 to $555.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 25th. Morgan Stanley assumed coverage on shares of Martin Marietta Materials in a research report on Monday, January 8th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $595.00 price target on the stock. HSBC upgraded shares of Martin Marietta Materials from a “reduce” rating to a “hold” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $376.00 to $543.00 in a report on Thursday, February 22nd. Citigroup lifted their target price on shares of Martin Marietta Materials from $635.00 to $708.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, April 5th. Finally, Wolfe Research downgraded shares of Martin Marietta Materials from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a report on Friday, March 8th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $588.69.

Martin Marietta Materials Stock Performance

NYSE:MLM opened at $597.07 on Friday. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $592.06 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $514.74. The company has a market cap of $36.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.71, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 0.96. The company has a quick ratio of 2.50, a current ratio of 3.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49. Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. has a 52 week low of $343.79 and a 52 week high of $626.67.

Martin Marietta Materials (NYSE:MLM) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 14th. The construction company reported $4.63 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.96 by $0.67. The business had revenue of $1.61 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.62 billion. Martin Marietta Materials had a net margin of 17.25% and a return on equity of 15.77%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 8.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $3.04 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. will post 21.24 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Martin Marietta Materials Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 28th. Investors of record on Monday, March 4th were paid a dividend of $0.74 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 1st. This represents a $2.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.50%. Martin Marietta Materials’s payout ratio is currently 15.72%.

About Martin Marietta Materials

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.