Intact Investment Management Inc. Lowers Position in Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. (NYSE:MLM)

Intact Investment Management Inc. cut its holdings in Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. (NYSE:MLM) by 86.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 1,200 shares of the construction company’s stock after selling 7,700 shares during the quarter. Intact Investment Management Inc.’s holdings in Martin Marietta Materials were worth $620,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its holdings in Martin Marietta Materials by 76.2% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,628,701 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $876,648,000 after purchasing an additional 704,460 shares in the last quarter. Versor Investments LP bought a new position in Martin Marietta Materials in the third quarter worth about $269,000. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Martin Marietta Materials by 6.6% in the third quarter. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC now owns 583 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $314,000 after purchasing an additional 36 shares in the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. raised its holdings in Martin Marietta Materials by 0.7% in the third quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 36,031 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $19,394,000 after purchasing an additional 246 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Huntington National Bank raised its holdings in Martin Marietta Materials by 4.2% in the third quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 5,521 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $2,972,000 after purchasing an additional 220 shares in the last quarter. 95.04% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Donald A. Mccunniff sold 1,332 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $475.00, for a total transaction of $632,700.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 3,523 shares in the company, valued at $1,673,425. This trade represents a 27.44 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, SVP Michael J. Petro bought 550 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 4th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $454.37 per share, for a total transaction of $249,903.50. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 8,985 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,082,514.45. This represents a 6.52 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders own 0.68% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have commented on MLM shares. Hsbc Global Res upgraded shares of Martin Marietta Materials from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. BNP Paribas downgraded shares of Martin Marietta Materials from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. Loop Capital cut their price objective on shares of Martin Marietta Materials from $680.00 to $645.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on shares of Martin Marietta Materials from $657.00 to $622.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of Martin Marietta Materials from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Thursday, February 20th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating, fourteen have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $634.36.

Martin Marietta Materials Trading Up 2.8 %

Martin Marietta Materials stock opened at $478.12 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 2.50, a quick ratio of 1.40 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56. Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. has a 12 month low of $448.50 and a 12 month high of $633.23. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $514.06 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $540.70. The firm has a market cap of $29.15 billion, a PE ratio of 14.79, a P/E/G ratio of 4.45 and a beta of 0.89.

Martin Marietta Materials (NYSE:MLM) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 12th. The construction company reported $4.79 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.62 by $0.17. Martin Marietta Materials had a return on equity of 12.11% and a net margin of 30.54%. Analysts anticipate that Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. will post 19.53 earnings per share for the current year.

Martin Marietta Materials Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 3rd will be given a $0.79 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 3rd. This represents a $3.16 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.66%. Martin Marietta Materials’s dividend payout ratio is presently 9.77%.

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.