Assenagon Asset Management S.A. Sells 43,209 Shares of Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. (NYSE:MLM)

Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lowered its stake in shares of Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. (NYSE:MLM - Free Report) by 57.6% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 31,836 shares of the construction company's stock after selling 43,209 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. owned about 0.05% of Martin Marietta Materials worth $16,443,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Inspire Investing LLC grew its holdings in Martin Marietta Materials by 0.9% during the 3rd quarter. Inspire Investing LLC now owns 2,126 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $1,144,000 after purchasing an additional 19 shares in the last quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC grew its stake in Martin Marietta Materials by 2.5% during the 3rd quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC now owns 782 shares of the construction company's stock worth $421,000 after buying an additional 19 shares during the last quarter. iA Global Asset Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Martin Marietta Materials by 3.6% in the 3rd quarter. iA Global Asset Management Inc. now owns 570 shares of the construction company's stock worth $307,000 after acquiring an additional 20 shares during the period. Financial Counselors Inc. increased its stake in shares of Martin Marietta Materials by 1.9% in the third quarter. Financial Counselors Inc. now owns 1,123 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $604,000 after purchasing an additional 21 shares during the period. Finally, Metis Global Partners LLC raised its stake in Martin Marietta Materials by 1.1% during the 3rd quarter. Metis Global Partners LLC now owns 1,963 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $1,057,000 after acquiring an additional 22 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 95.04% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on MLM shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised shares of Martin Marietta Materials from a "neutral" rating to an "overweight" rating and upped their price target for the company from $515.00 to $640.00 in a report on Wednesday, November 27th. Citigroup dropped their price target on Martin Marietta Materials from $701.00 to $600.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 6th. StockNews.com raised shares of Martin Marietta Materials from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, January 9th. UBS Group assumed coverage on Martin Marietta Materials in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $730.00 price target for the company. Finally, Raymond James cut their target price on Martin Marietta Materials from $640.00 to $630.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, Martin Marietta Materials has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $648.71.

Martin Marietta Materials Trading Up 2.3 %

Shares of Martin Marietta Materials stock traded up $12.10 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $543.33. 371,416 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 350,880. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $555.95 and a 200-day moving average of $550.86. Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. has a 12 month low of $490.05 and a 12 month high of $633.23. 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 $33.21 billion, a PE ratio of 16.93, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.97 and a beta of 0.91.

Martin Marietta Materials (NYSE:MLM - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The construction company reported $5.91 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $6.41 by ($0.50). The company had revenue of $1.89 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.94 billion. Martin Marietta Materials had a return on equity of 12.53% and a net margin of 30.47%. The company's revenue was down 5.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $6.94 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts expect that Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. will post 17.6 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Martin Marietta Materials Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 2nd were issued a $0.79 dividend. This represents a $3.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.58%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 2nd. Martin Marietta Materials's dividend payout ratio is 9.85%.

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.