Bamco Inc. NY Reduces Holdings in Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. (NYSE:MLM)

Bamco Inc. NY trimmed its stake in Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. (NYSE:MLM - Free Report) by 85.4% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 10,068 shares of the construction company's stock after selling 59,017 shares during the quarter. Bamco Inc. NY's holdings in Martin Marietta Materials were worth $5,419,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Cetera Investment Advisers lifted its holdings in shares of Martin Marietta Materials by 450.2% during the first quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 10,432 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $6,405,000 after purchasing an additional 8,536 shares in the last quarter. Cetera Advisors LLC increased its position in Martin Marietta Materials by 241.1% during the first quarter. Cetera Advisors LLC now owns 1,668 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $1,024,000 after acquiring an additional 1,179 shares during the last quarter. Mather Group LLC. increased its position in Martin Marietta Materials by 13.6% in the second quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 167 shares of the construction company's stock worth $90,000 after buying an additional 20 shares in the last quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC increased its position in Martin Marietta Materials by 6.9% in the second quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC now owns 2,512 shares of the construction company's stock worth $1,361,000 after buying an additional 162 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Valeo Financial Advisors LLC increased its position in Martin Marietta Materials by 16.7% in the second quarter. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC now owns 847 shares of the construction company's stock worth $459,000 after buying an additional 121 shares in the last quarter. 95.04% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts recently issued reports on the company. UBS Group initiated coverage on Martin Marietta Materials in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. They set a "buy" rating and a $730.00 target price for the company. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their price objective on Martin Marietta Materials from $650.00 to $635.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised Martin Marietta Materials from a "neutral" rating to an "overweight" rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $515.00 to $640.00 in a report on Wednesday, November 27th. Stephens cut their price objective on Martin Marietta Materials from $650.00 to $610.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, August 9th. Finally, BNP Paribas upgraded Martin Marietta Materials to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, September 19th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Martin Marietta Materials currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $644.46.

Martin Marietta Materials Stock Down 1.1 %

Shares of Martin Marietta Materials stock traded down $6.75 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $582.00. 350,959 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 445,844. Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. has a 1 year low of $456.83 and a 1 year high of $633.23. The stock's fifty day moving average is $574.12 and its 200 day moving average is $556.15. 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 firm has a market cap of $35.57 billion, a PE ratio of 18.14, a PEG ratio of 4.02 and a beta of 0.89.

Martin Marietta Materials (NYSE:MLM - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The construction company reported $5.91 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates 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 return on equity of 12.53% and a net margin of 30.47%. The firm's revenue was down 5.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $6.94 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. will post 17.58 earnings per share for the current year.

Martin Marietta Materials Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Investors of record on Monday, December 2nd will be issued a $0.79 dividend. This represents a $3.16 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.54%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 2nd. Martin Marietta Materials's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.