Pekin Hardy Strauss Inc. Sells 80 Shares of Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. (NYSE:MLM)

Pekin Hardy Strauss Inc. lowered its stake in shares of Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. (NYSE:MLM) by 10.8% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 664 shares of the construction company’s stock after selling 80 shares during the quarter. Pekin Hardy Strauss Inc.’s holdings in Martin Marietta Materials were worth $331,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MLM. Pinnacle Bancorp Inc. acquired a new stake in Martin Marietta Materials in the fourth quarter worth about $26,000. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC bought a new position in Martin Marietta Materials in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Oliver Lagore Vanvalin Investment Group grew its holdings in 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 worth $30,000 after acquiring an additional 26 shares during the period. 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 acquiring an additional 39 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Turtle Creek Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Martin Marietta Materials in the 4th quarter valued at $34,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 95.04% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Martin Marietta Materials news, EVP Roselyn R. Bar sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 directly owns 59,970 shares in the company, valued at $36,179,301.30. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, EVP Roselyn R. Bar sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 59,970 shares in the company, valued at approximately $36,179,301.30. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Sue W. Cole sold 1,724 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $543.48, for a total value of $936,959.52. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 19,793 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,757,099.64. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 26,724 shares of company stock worth $16,033,760. Corporate insiders own 0.61% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MLM has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Citigroup lifted their price objective on Martin Marietta Materials from $635.00 to $708.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, April 5th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price target on shares of Martin Marietta Materials from $621.00 to $650.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, April 15th. HSBC upgraded shares of Martin Marietta Materials from a “reduce” rating to a “hold” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $376.00 to $543.00 in a report on Thursday, February 22nd. Morgan Stanley assumed coverage on shares of Martin Marietta Materials in a report on Monday, January 8th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $595.00 target price on the stock. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $600.00 price target (up previously from $530.00) on shares of Martin Marietta Materials in a report on Friday, March 22nd. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Martin Marietta Materials has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $588.69.

Martin Marietta Materials Trading Up 0.6 %

NYSE MLM opened at $590.86 on Thursday. Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. has a 52 week low of $361.33 and a 52 week high of $626.67. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.44, a quick ratio of 2.50 and a current ratio of 3.16. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $596.80 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $520.00. The stock has a market capitalization of $36.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.51, a PEG ratio of 2.84 and a beta of 0.95.

Martin Marietta Materials (NYSE:MLM) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 30th. The construction company reported $1.93 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.88 by $0.05. Martin Marietta Materials had a net margin of 31.35% and a return on equity of 14.74%. The company had revenue of $1.25 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.31 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.16 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was down 7.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts anticipate that Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. will post 21.3 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Martin Marietta Materials Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 28th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 4th were issued a $0.74 dividend. This represents a $2.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.50%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 1st. Martin Marietta Materials’s payout ratio is 8.77%.

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.