B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. AG Has $1.38 Million Stock Holdings in Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. (NYSE:MLM)

B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. AG increased its position in shares of Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. (NYSE:MLM) by 6.1% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,679 shares of the construction company’s stock after buying an additional 154 shares during the period. B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. AG’s holdings in Martin Marietta Materials were worth $1,384,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in Martin Marietta Materials by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 7,174,183 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $3,705,466,000 after acquiring an additional 36,531 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its stake in shares of 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 buying an additional 506,705 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Martin Marietta Materials by 11.7% during the fourth 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 last quarter. Amundi lifted its stake in shares of Martin Marietta Materials by 10.5% during the 4th quarter. Amundi now owns 1,562,146 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $808,005,000 after buying an additional 148,065 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Proficio Capital Partners LLC grew its position in shares of Martin Marietta Materials by 54,277.3% in the fourth quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 918,432 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $474,370,000 after purchasing an additional 916,743 shares in the last quarter. 95.04% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity 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 bought at an average cost of $454.37 per share, with a total value of $249,903.50. Following the completion of the acquisition, the senior vice president now owns 8,985 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,082,514.45. The trade was a 6.52 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Donald A. Mccunniff sold 1,332 shares of the firm’s 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 completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 3,523 shares in the company, valued at $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.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently commented on the company. Raymond James cut their price objective on Martin Marietta Materials from $630.00 to $600.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Stifel Nicolaus initiated coverage on Martin Marietta Materials in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $559.00 price objective for the company. Seaport Res Ptn upgraded shares of Martin Marietta Materials to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. BNP Paribas lowered Martin Marietta Materials from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Finally, Wolfe Research raised Martin Marietta Materials from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $563.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $626.50.

Martin Marietta Materials Stock Performance

Shares of Martin Marietta Materials stock opened at $492.54 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.40, a current ratio of 2.50 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $503.23 and its two-hundred day moving average is $537.94. Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. has a 52 week low of $448.50 and a 52 week high of $633.23. The company has a market capitalization of $30.03 billion, a PE ratio of 15.23, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.45 and a beta of 0.89.

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

Martin Marietta Materials Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 3rd were paid a dividend of $0.79 per share. This represents a $3.16 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.64%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 3rd. Martin Marietta Materials’s dividend payout ratio is presently 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.