Daiwa Securities Group Inc. Acquires 1,817 Shares of Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. (NYSE:MLM)

Daiwa Securities Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. (NYSE:MLM) by 14.5% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 14,371 shares of the construction company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,817 shares during the period. Daiwa Securities Group Inc.’s holdings in Martin Marietta Materials were worth $7,170,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of MLM. Pinnacle Bancorp Inc. bought a new position in Martin Marietta Materials during the fourth quarter worth about $26,000. MV Capital Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Martin Marietta Materials by 144.4% during the third quarter. MV Capital Management Inc. now owns 66 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $27,000 after acquiring an additional 39 shares during the period. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC bought a new stake in shares of Martin Marietta Materials during the fourth quarter worth approximately $27,000. Householder Group Estate & Retirement Specialist LLC bought a new stake in shares of Martin Marietta Materials during the third quarter worth approximately $30,000. Finally, Covestor Ltd raised its position in shares of Martin Marietta Materials by 84.6% in the third quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 72 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $30,000 after buying an additional 33 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 95.04% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on MLM. Stephens lifted their price target on shares of Martin Marietta Materials from $575.00 to $605.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 16th. 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. Raymond James boosted their price objective on shares of Martin Marietta Materials from $505.00 to $555.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 25th. Citigroup boosted their price objective on shares of Martin Marietta Materials from $635.00 to $708.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, April 5th. Finally, Truist Financial upped their price target on shares of Martin Marietta Materials from $610.00 to $700.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 2nd. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Martin Marietta Materials has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $588.69.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Martin Marietta Materials news, EVP Roselyn R. Bar sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $603.29, for a total value of $6,032,900.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 59,970 shares in the company, valued at approximately $36,179,301.30. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. In other news, CEO C Howard Nye sold 15,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $604.26, for a total transaction of $9,063,900.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 134,640 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $81,357,566.40. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Roselyn R. Bar sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $36,179,301.30. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 26,724 shares of company stock worth $16,033,760 in the last quarter. Insiders own 0.61% of the company’s stock.

Martin Marietta Materials Price Performance

MLM stock opened at $587.13 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $36.24 billion, a PE ratio of 31.18, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.88 and a beta of 0.96. The company’s 50-day moving average is $586.40 and its 200-day moving average is $508.75. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a current ratio of 3.35 and a quick ratio of 2.50. Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. has a 1 year low of $343.79 and a 1 year high of $626.67.

Martin Marietta Materials (NYSE:MLM) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 14th. The construction company reported $4.63 earnings per share 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 company had revenue of $1.61 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.62 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $3.04 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 8.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts expect that Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. will post 21.23 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Martin Marietta Materials Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 28th. Investors of record on Monday, March 4th were issued a $0.74 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 1st. This represents a $2.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.50%. Martin Marietta Materials’s dividend payout ratio is presently 15.72%.

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.