Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. Boosts Holdings in Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. (NYSE:MLM)

Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. (NYSE:MLM - Free Report) by 1.3% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 473,632 shares of the construction company's stock after acquiring an additional 5,850 shares during the period. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. owned about 0.77% of Martin Marietta Materials worth $244,631,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the business. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its stake in shares of Martin Marietta Materials by 23.3% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 2,678,425 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $1,441,663,000 after purchasing an additional 506,705 shares during the period. FMR LLC boosted its stake in shares of Martin Marietta Materials by 15.3% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 2,515,441 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $1,353,936,000 after purchasing an additional 334,605 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Martin Marietta Materials by 11.7% during the fourth quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,819,744 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $939,898,000 after purchasing an additional 191,043 shares during the period. Amundi boosted its stake in shares of Martin Marietta Materials by 10.5% during the fourth quarter. Amundi now owns 1,562,146 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $808,005,000 after purchasing an additional 148,065 shares during the period. Finally, Proficio Capital Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of Martin Marietta Materials by 54,277.3% during the fourth quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 918,432 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $474,370,000 after purchasing an additional 916,743 shares during the period. 95.04% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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Martin Marietta Materials Stock Down 0.2 %

Shares of NYSE:MLM traded down $1.03 on Tuesday, hitting $487.70. 602,366 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 457,826. Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. has a 52 week low of $448.50 and a 52 week high of $633.23. The company has a quick ratio of 1.40, a current ratio of 2.50 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $513.52 and a 200-day simple moving average of $540.64. The company has a market cap of $29.74 billion, a PE ratio of 15.09, a PEG ratio of 4.45 and a beta of 0.89.

Martin Marietta Materials (NYSE:MLM - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 return on equity of 12.11% and a net margin of 30.54%. As a group, research analysts expect that Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. will post 19.53 earnings per share for the current year.

Martin Marietta Materials Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 3rd will be given a $0.79 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 3rd. This represents a $3.16 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.65%. Martin Marietta Materials's payout ratio is 9.77%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, 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 transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 3,523 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,673,425. The trade was a 27.44 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, SVP Michael J. Petro acquired 550 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 4th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $454.37 per share, for a total transaction of $249,903.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 8,985 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,082,514.45. This represents a 6.52 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders own 0.68% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MLM has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Citigroup dropped their price objective on Martin Marietta Materials from $701.00 to $600.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, January 6th. StockNews.com lowered Martin Marietta Materials from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Thursday, February 20th. Loop Capital dropped their price target on Martin Marietta Materials from $680.00 to $645.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded Martin Marietta Materials from a "neutral" rating to an "overweight" rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $515.00 to $640.00 in a report on Wednesday, November 27th. Finally, Hsbc Global Res upgraded Martin Marietta Materials from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating, fourteen have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $634.36.

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.