William Blair Investment Management LLC Boosts Stock Holdings in Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. (NYSE:MLM)

William Blair Investment Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. (NYSE:MLM) by 23.6% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 520,066 shares of the construction company’s stock after acquiring an additional 99,248 shares during the period. Martin Marietta Materials accounts for approximately 0.8% of William Blair Investment Management LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 26th largest holding. William Blair Investment Management LLC owned 0.84% of Martin Marietta Materials worth $240,109,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Clear Creek Financial Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Martin Marietta Materials by 2.6% during the second quarter. Clear Creek Financial Management LLC now owns 955 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $441,000 after acquiring an additional 24 shares in the last quarter. Graypoint LLC lifted its position in shares of Martin Marietta Materials by 2.2% during the second quarter. Graypoint LLC now owns 1,188 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $549,000 after acquiring an additional 26 shares in the last quarter. Centaurus Financial Inc. lifted its position in shares of Martin Marietta Materials by 9.4% during the first quarter. Centaurus Financial Inc. now owns 336 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $119,000 after acquiring an additional 29 shares in the last quarter. Gilbert & Cook Inc. lifted its position in shares of Martin Marietta Materials by 2.7% during the first quarter. Gilbert & Cook Inc. now owns 1,141 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $405,000 after acquiring an additional 30 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS lifted its position in shares of Martin Marietta Materials by 0.3% during the first quarter. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS now owns 10,526 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $3,737,000 after acquiring an additional 31 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.22% of the company’s stock.

Martin Marietta Materials Trading Down 1.3 %

NYSE MLM traded down $6.21 during trading on Monday, hitting $455.85. 107,485 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 379,688. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $427.02 and a two-hundred day moving average of $431.85. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51, a current ratio of 2.47 and a quick ratio of 1.60. Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. has a 12-month low of $317.94 and a 12-month high of $468.50. The firm has a market cap of $28.17 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.82, a PEG ratio of 1.17 and a beta of 0.91.

Martin Marietta Materials (NYSE:MLM) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 1st. The construction company reported $6.94 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $6.04 by $0.90. Martin Marietta Materials had a net margin of 16.10% and a return on equity of 14.89%. The business had revenue of $1.99 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.99 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $4.69 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 10.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. will post 18.22 EPS for the current year.

Martin Marietta Materials Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 29th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 1st will be issued a dividend of $0.74 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 30th. This represents a $2.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.65%. Martin Marietta Materials’s dividend payout ratio is currently 17.18%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have issued reports on MLM. Raymond James increased their target price on Martin Marietta Materials from $490.00 to $505.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 2nd. HSBC began coverage on Martin Marietta Materials in a research note on Friday, September 15th. They issued a “reduce” rating and a $376.00 target price on the stock. Seaport Res Ptn upgraded Martin Marietta Materials from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 25th. StockNews.com started coverage on shares of Martin Marietta Materials in a research note on Thursday, October 5th. They issued a “hold” rating on the stock. Finally, Truist Financial boosted their price target on shares of Martin Marietta Materials from $446.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, July 28th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $471.79.

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.