Baillie Gifford & Co. Cuts Stock Holdings in Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. (NYSE:MLM)

Baillie Gifford & Co. lowered its stake in Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. (NYSE:MLM - Free Report) by 3.9% in the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 2,119,177 shares of the construction company's stock after selling 86,143 shares during the period. Martin Marietta Materials makes up approximately 0.9% of Baillie Gifford & Co.'s holdings, making the stock its 27th biggest position. Baillie Gifford & Co. owned about 3.47% of Martin Marietta Materials worth $1,140,647,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in MLM. Norden Group LLC bought a new position in Martin Marietta Materials in the 1st quarter valued at $209,000. NorthRock Partners LLC lifted its holdings in Martin Marietta Materials by 8.3% during the first quarter. NorthRock Partners LLC now owns 584 shares of the construction company's stock worth $359,000 after acquiring an additional 45 shares in the last quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Martin Marietta Materials by 27.2% during the first quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,770 shares of the construction company's stock worth $1,087,000 after acquiring an additional 379 shares in the last quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of Martin Marietta Materials by 8.1% in the first quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 74,259 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $45,545,000 after purchasing an additional 5,576 shares in the last quarter. Finally, US Bancorp DE increased its position in shares of Martin Marietta Materials by 0.5% in the first quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 10,074 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $6,185,000 after acquiring an additional 53 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 95.04% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on MLM. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on Martin Marietta Materials from $560.00 to $515.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. Loop Capital increased their price objective on shares of Martin Marietta Materials from $600.00 to $680.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of Martin Marietta Materials from $610.00 to $657.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday, August 26th. Jefferies Financial Group cut their price objective on shares of Martin Marietta Materials from $650.00 to $635.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. Finally, Barclays raised their price target on shares of Martin Marietta Materials from $595.00 to $645.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 29th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $634.85.

Martin Marietta Materials Price Performance

NYSE:MLM traded down $6.59 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $609.46. The stock had a trading volume of 124,481 shares, compared to its average volume of 446,489. Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. has a one year low of $451.37 and a one year high of $633.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a current ratio of 2.34 and a quick ratio of 1.24. The firm has a market capitalization of $37.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.94, a P/E/G ratio of 4.14 and a beta of 0.90. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $550.70 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $556.45.

Martin Marietta Materials (NYSE:MLM - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The construction company reported $5.91 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $6.41 by ($0.50). The company had revenue of $1.89 billion for 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%. Martin Marietta Materials's quarterly revenue was down 5.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $6.94 EPS. Research analysts forecast that Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. will post 17.84 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Martin Marietta Materials Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Investors of record on Monday, December 2nd will be given a dividend of $0.79 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 2nd. This represents a $3.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.52%. Martin Marietta Materials's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 9.85%.

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.