Avanza Fonder AB Makes New $3.47 Million Investment in Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. (NYSE:MLM)

Avanza Fonder AB acquired a new stake in Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. (NYSE:MLM - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 6,721 shares of the construction company's stock, valued at approximately $3,471,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Edgestream Partners L.P. acquired a new stake in Martin Marietta Materials in the second quarter valued at $673,000. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV raised its position in shares of Martin Marietta Materials by 239.0% during the 2nd quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV now owns 6,152 shares of the construction company's stock worth $3,333,000 after acquiring an additional 4,337 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC raised its position in shares of Martin Marietta Materials by 6.1% during the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC now owns 4,964 shares of the construction company's stock worth $2,655,000 after acquiring an additional 284 shares in the last quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC lifted its stake in Martin Marietta Materials by 20.0% during the second quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 128,806 shares of the construction company's stock worth $69,839,000 after purchasing an additional 21,488 shares during the last quarter. Finally, XTX Topco Ltd boosted its holdings in Martin Marietta Materials by 66.4% in the second quarter. XTX Topco Ltd now owns 2,641 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $1,431,000 after purchasing an additional 1,054 shares in the last quarter. 95.04% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Martin Marietta Materials Price Performance

Shares of MLM traded up $12.10 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $543.33. The company had a trading volume of 371,416 shares, compared to its average volume of 350,880. The company has a current ratio of 2.34, a quick ratio of 1.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43. Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. has a 12-month low of $490.05 and a 12-month high of $633.23. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $555.95 and a 200-day simple moving average of $550.86. The company has a market capitalization of $33.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.93, a PEG ratio of 2.97 and a beta of 0.91.

Martin Marietta Materials (NYSE:MLM - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The construction company reported $5.91 earnings per share (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 net margin of 30.47% and a return on equity of 12.53%. The company's quarterly revenue was down 5.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $6.94 earnings per share. Research analysts expect that Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. will post 17.6 earnings per share for the current 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.58%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 2nd. Martin Marietta Materials's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 9.85%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MLM has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. UBS Group began coverage on shares of Martin Marietta Materials in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. They set a "buy" rating and a $730.00 price objective for the company. Loop Capital boosted their price target on shares of Martin Marietta Materials from $600.00 to $680.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Hsbc Global Res upgraded Martin Marietta Materials from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. Barclays raised their target price on shares of Martin Marietta Materials from $595.00 to $645.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 29th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Martin Marietta Materials from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, January 9th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $648.71.

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.