Schear Investment Advisers LLC Raises Stock Position in Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. (NYSE:MLM)

Schear Investment Advisers LLC raised its stake in shares of Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. (NYSE:MLM) by 1.2% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 1,647 shares of the construction company’s stock after acquiring an additional 20 shares during the period. Schear Investment Advisers LLC’s holdings in Martin Marietta Materials were worth $822,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Pinnacle Bancorp Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Martin Marietta Materials during the fourth quarter valued at about $26,000. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Martin Marietta Materials during the fourth quarter valued at about $27,000. Oliver Lagore Vanvalin Investment Group increased its position in shares of Martin Marietta Materials by 74.3% during the fourth quarter. Oliver Lagore Vanvalin Investment Group now owns 61 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $30,000 after acquiring an additional 26 shares during the last quarter. MV Capital Management Inc. increased its position 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 valued at $27,000 after acquiring an additional 39 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Turtle Creek Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Martin Marietta Materials during the fourth quarter valued at about $34,000. 95.04% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have weighed in on MLM. Morgan Stanley began coverage on shares of Martin Marietta Materials in a research report on Monday, January 8th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $595.00 price target for the company. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Martin Marietta Materials from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, February 9th. Wolfe Research downgraded shares of Martin Marietta Materials from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research note on Friday, March 8th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price on shares of Martin Marietta Materials from $642.00 to $737.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, HSBC raised shares of Martin Marietta Materials from a “reduce” rating to a “hold” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $376.00 to $543.00 in a research note on Thursday, February 22nd. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $588.69.

Martin Marietta Materials Stock Down 2.0 %

Shares of Martin Marietta Materials stock traded down $11.48 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $575.65. The company had a trading volume of 317,416 shares, compared to its average volume of 401,113. The company has a market cap of $35.53 billion, a P/E 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 two-hundred 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 twelve month low of $343.79 and a twelve month high of $626.67.

Martin Marietta Materials (NYSE:MLM) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 14th. The construction company reported $4.63 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 analysts’ expectations of $1.62 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $3.04 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts anticipate that Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. will post 21.23 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Martin Marietta Materials Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 28th. Investors of record on Monday, March 4th were given a $0.74 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 1st. This represents a $2.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.51%. Martin Marietta Materials’s dividend payout ratio is presently 15.72%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Roselyn R. Bar sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 59,970 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $36,179,301.30. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In other Martin Marietta Materials news, EVP Roselyn R. Bar sold 10,000 shares of Martin Marietta Materials 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 sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CEO C Howard Nye sold 15,000 shares of Martin Marietta Materials 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 134,640 shares in the company, valued at $81,357,566.40. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 26,724 shares of company stock valued at $16,033,760. Insiders own 0.61% of the company’s stock.

Martin Marietta Materials Company 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.