Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management UK Ltd. Purchases Shares of 1,000 Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. (NYSE:MLM)

Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management UK Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. (NYSE:MLM) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor acquired 1,000 shares of the construction company’s stock, valued at approximately $517,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in MLM. Atomi Financial Group Inc. boosted its stake in Martin Marietta Materials by 5.9% during the fourth quarter. Atomi Financial Group Inc. now owns 734 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $379,000 after buying an additional 41 shares during the last quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of Martin Marietta Materials by 2.2% during the 4th quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC now owns 1,281 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $662,000 after acquiring an additional 27 shares in the last quarter. Gilman Hill Asset Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Martin Marietta Materials by 71.1% during the 4th quarter. Gilman Hill Asset Management LLC now owns 770 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $398,000 after acquiring an additional 320 shares during the last quarter. Renaissance Investment Group LLC grew its holdings in shares of Martin Marietta Materials by 1.0% in the fourth quarter. Renaissance Investment Group LLC now owns 17,489 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $9,033,000 after purchasing an additional 171 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Financial Management Professionals Inc. increased its position in Martin Marietta Materials by 12.5% in the fourth quarter. Financial Management Professionals Inc. now owns 630 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $325,000 after purchasing an additional 70 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 95.04% of the company’s stock.

Martin Marietta Materials Price Performance

NYSE MLM opened at $552.43 on Wednesday. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $554.49 and its 200-day moving average price is $551.16. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a quick ratio of 1.24 and a current ratio of 2.34. The company has a market cap of $33.76 billion, a PE ratio of 17.21, a P/E/G ratio of 3.17 and a beta of 0.91. Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. has a 52-week low of $490.05 and a 52-week high of $633.23.

Martin Marietta Materials (NYSE:MLM) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The construction company reported $5.91 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.41 by ($0.50). Martin Marietta Materials had a return on equity of 12.53% and a net margin of 30.47%. The company had revenue of $1.89 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.94 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $6.94 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 5.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts forecast that Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. will post 17.57 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Martin Marietta Materials Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 2nd were given a $0.79 dividend. This represents a $3.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.57%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 2nd. Martin Marietta Materials’s payout ratio is currently 9.85%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have commented on the stock. UBS Group assumed coverage on shares of Martin Marietta Materials in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $730.00 price objective for the company. Hsbc Global Res raised Martin Marietta Materials from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. BNP Paribas downgraded Martin Marietta Materials from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. Wolfe Research upgraded shares of Martin Marietta Materials from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $563.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Finally, Citigroup reduced their target price on shares of Martin Marietta Materials from $701.00 to $600.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Martin Marietta Materials presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $648.71.

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.