Natixis Advisors LLC Acquires 2,799 Shares of Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. (NYSE:MLM)

Natixis Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. (NYSE:MLM) by 2.9% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 100,353 shares of the construction company’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,799 shares during the quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC owned about 0.16% of Martin Marietta Materials worth $51,832,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of MLM. Whipplewood Advisors LLC bought a new position in Martin Marietta Materials in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Kestra Investment Management LLC bought a new position in Martin Marietta Materials in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Hopwood Financial Services Inc. bought a new position in Martin Marietta Materials in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $36,000. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Martin Marietta Materials by 91.9% in the fourth quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 71 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $37,000 after acquiring an additional 34 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC acquired a new stake in Martin Marietta Materials in the fourth quarter worth $41,000. 95.04% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MLM has been the topic of several analyst reports. Raymond James cut their target price on shares of Martin Marietta Materials from $630.00 to $600.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Stephens cut their target price on shares of Martin Marietta Materials from $675.00 to $650.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Citigroup dropped their price objective on shares of Martin Marietta Materials from $701.00 to $600.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, January 6th. Loop Capital dropped 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. Finally, Truist Financial dropped their price objective on shares of Martin Marietta Materials from $670.00 to $610.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 13th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating, fourteen have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Martin Marietta Materials currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $634.36.

Martin Marietta Materials Stock Performance

Shares of MLM stock opened at $478.12 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $29.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.79, a PEG ratio of 4.45 and a beta of 0.89. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56, a quick ratio of 1.40 and a current ratio of 2.50. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $514.06 and a 200 day simple moving average of $540.70. Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. has a 52 week low of $448.50 and a 52 week high of $633.23.

Martin Marietta Materials (NYSE:MLM) last announced its earnings results 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 net margin of 30.54% and a return on equity of 12.11%. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. will post 19.53 earnings per share for the current year.

Martin Marietta Materials Dividend Announcement

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

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

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.