Harvey Partners LLC Sells 28,750 Shares of Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. (NYSE:MLM)

Harvey Partners LLC lessened its stake in shares of Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. (NYSE:MLM) by 62.8% during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 17,000 shares of the construction company’s stock after selling 28,750 shares during the quarter. Harvey Partners LLC’s holdings in Martin Marietta Materials were worth $9,150,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Cetera Investment Advisers boosted its position in shares of Martin Marietta Materials by 450.2% during the 1st quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 10,432 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $6,405,000 after acquiring an additional 8,536 shares during the last quarter. Cetera Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Martin Marietta Materials by 241.1% during the 1st quarter. Cetera Advisors LLC now owns 1,668 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $1,024,000 after purchasing an additional 1,179 shares during the last quarter. Mather Group LLC. grew its holdings in shares of Martin Marietta Materials by 13.6% during the 2nd quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 167 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $90,000 after purchasing an additional 20 shares during the period. Park Avenue Securities LLC grew its stake in Martin Marietta Materials by 6.9% during the 2nd quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC now owns 2,512 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $1,361,000 after purchasing an additional 162 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Valeo Financial Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Martin Marietta Materials by 16.7% during the second quarter. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC now owns 847 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $459,000 after purchasing an additional 121 shares during the last quarter. 95.04% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Martin Marietta Materials Price Performance

MLM stock opened at $593.22 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $36.26 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.49, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.07 and a beta of 0.89. Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. has a 52 week low of $456.83 and a 52 week high of $633.23. The company has a quick ratio of 1.24, a current ratio of 2.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $572.14 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $555.91.

Martin Marietta Materials (NYSE:MLM) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The construction company reported $5.91 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $6.41 by ($0.50). The firm had revenue of $1.89 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.94 billion. Martin Marietta Materials had a net margin of 30.47% and a return on equity of 12.53%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 5.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $6.94 EPS. Analysts anticipate that Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. will post 17.58 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Martin Marietta Materials Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 2nd will be paid a dividend of $0.79 per share. This represents a $3.16 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.53%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 2nd. Martin Marietta Materials’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 9.85%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently commented on MLM shares. Citigroup dropped their price objective on Martin Marietta Materials from $658.00 to $646.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, August 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded shares of Martin Marietta Materials from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $515.00 to $640.00 in a report on Wednesday, November 27th. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on Martin Marietta Materials from $610.00 to $657.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, August 26th. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their price target on shares of Martin Marietta Materials from $650.00 to $635.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. Finally, Stephens cut their price target on shares of Martin Marietta Materials from $650.00 to $610.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, August 9th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $644.46.

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.