Knowledge Leaders Capital LLC Sells 83 Shares of Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. (NYSE:MLM)

Knowledge Leaders Capital LLC lowered its stake in shares of Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. (NYSE:MLM) by 8.0% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 960 shares of the construction company’s stock after selling 83 shares during the quarter. Knowledge Leaders Capital LLC’s holdings in Martin Marietta Materials were worth $479,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MLM. Bryn Mawr Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Martin Marietta Materials by 128.0% in the 4th quarter. Bryn Mawr Capital Management LLC now owns 7,241 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $3,613,000 after purchasing an additional 4,065 shares during the last quarter. Syon Capital LLC boosted its stake in shares of Martin Marietta Materials by 16.7% in the 4th quarter. Syon Capital LLC now owns 916 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $457,000 after purchasing an additional 131 shares during the last quarter. Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of Martin Marietta Materials by 1.6% in the 4th quarter. Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 1,564 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $780,000 after purchasing an additional 25 shares during the last quarter. Atria Wealth Solutions Inc. raised its position in shares of Martin Marietta Materials by 3.4% in the 4th quarter. Atria Wealth Solutions Inc. now owns 3,645 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $1,818,000 after acquiring an additional 119 shares during the period. Finally, Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd raised its position in shares of Martin Marietta Materials by 58.2% in the 4th quarter. Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd now owns 644 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $321,000 after acquiring an additional 237 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 95.04% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts recently weighed in on MLM shares. Wolfe Research downgraded shares of Martin Marietta Materials from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research report on Friday, March 8th. Morgan Stanley began coverage on shares of Martin Marietta Materials in a report on Monday, January 8th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $595.00 target price on the stock. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Martin Marietta Materials from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, February 9th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on shares of Martin Marietta Materials from $642.00 to $737.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 16th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target on shares of Martin Marietta Materials from $621.00 to $650.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, April 15th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $588.69.

Martin Marietta Materials Stock Performance

MLM stock traded up $7.92 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $604.99. 386,242 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 397,845. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a current ratio of 3.35 and a quick ratio of 2.50. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $593.37 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $515.98. Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. has a one year low of $345.03 and a one year high of $626.67. The firm has a market capitalization of $37.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.14, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 0.96.

Martin Marietta Materials (NYSE:MLM) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 14th. The construction company reported $4.63 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.96 by $0.67. Martin Marietta Materials had a net margin of 17.25% and a return on equity of 15.77%. The firm had revenue of $1.61 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.62 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $3.04 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts forecast that Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. will post 21.3 EPS for the current year.

Martin Marietta Materials Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 28th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 4th were issued a dividend of $0.74 per share. This represents a $2.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.49%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 1st. Martin Marietta Materials’s dividend payout ratio is currently 15.72%.

Insider Transactions at Martin Marietta Materials

In related news, EVP Roselyn R. Bar sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $603.29, for a total value of $6,032,900.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 59,970 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $36,179,301.30. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, CEO C Howard Nye sold 15,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $604.26, for a total transaction of $9,063,900.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 134,640 shares in the company, valued at $81,357,566.40. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Roselyn R. Bar sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $603.29, for a total value of $6,032,900.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 59,970 shares in the company, valued at $36,179,301.30. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 26,724 shares of company stock valued at $16,033,760. 0.61% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.