Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. (NYSE:MLM) Shares Sold by Eagle Asset Management Inc.

Eagle Asset Management Inc. lowered its stake in shares of Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. (NYSE:MLM - Free Report) by 8.6% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 234,403 shares of the construction company's stock after selling 22,006 shares during the quarter. Eagle Asset Management Inc. owned about 0.38% of Martin Marietta Materials worth $126,167,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Martin Marietta Materials by 76.2% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,628,701 shares of the construction company's stock worth $876,648,000 after acquiring an additional 704,460 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its position in shares of Martin Marietta Materials by 114.3% during the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 980,699 shares of the construction company's stock worth $602,092,000 after purchasing an additional 523,038 shares in the last quarter. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Martin Marietta Materials by 54.2% during the third quarter. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. now owns 467,782 shares of the construction company's stock worth $251,784,000 after purchasing an additional 164,503 shares in the last quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company lifted its holdings in shares of Martin Marietta Materials by 247.5% during the 2nd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 148,827 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $80,634,000 after purchasing an additional 106,002 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its position in shares of Martin Marietta Materials by 682.5% in the 3rd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 75,045 shares of the construction company's stock worth $40,393,000 after purchasing an additional 65,454 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 95.04% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have commented on MLM. UBS Group initiated 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. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their target price on shares of Martin Marietta Materials from $650.00 to $635.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. Stephens dropped their target price on shares of Martin Marietta Materials from $650.00 to $610.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, August 9th. Truist Financial decreased their price target on shares of Martin Marietta Materials from $700.00 to $670.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Friday, August 9th. Finally, BNP Paribas raised shares of Martin Marietta Materials to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Thursday, September 19th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Martin Marietta Materials currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $634.85.

Martin Marietta Materials Stock Performance

Martin Marietta Materials stock traded up $7.11 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $597.71. 119,831 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 444,773. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $563.67 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $556.76. 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 capitalization of $36.53 billion, a PE ratio of 18.44, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.89 and a beta of 0.90. Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $456.83 and a fifty-two week high of $633.23.

Martin Marietta Materials (NYSE:MLM - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The construction company reported $5.91 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $6.41 by ($0.50). Martin Marietta Materials had a return on equity of 12.53% and a net margin of 30.47%. The firm had revenue of $1.89 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.94 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $6.94 EPS. Martin Marietta Materials's revenue for the quarter was down 5.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. will post 17.84 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 Tuesday, December 31st. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 2nd will be paid a dividend of $0.79 per share. This represents a $3.16 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.53%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 2nd. Martin Marietta Materials's payout ratio is currently 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.