Franklin Resources Inc. Increases Stock Position in Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. (NYSE:MLM)

Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its holdings in Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. (NYSE:MLM - Free Report) by 1.9% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 534,801 shares of the construction company's stock after purchasing an additional 9,908 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. owned about 0.88% of Martin Marietta Materials worth $295,397,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Synovus Financial Corp boosted its stake in Martin Marietta Materials by 8.0% in the 3rd quarter. Synovus Financial Corp now owns 10,021 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $5,394,000 after purchasing an additional 741 shares during the period. Tidal Investments LLC increased its stake in shares of Martin Marietta Materials by 89.3% in the 3rd quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 8,008 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $4,310,000 after purchasing an additional 3,778 shares during the last quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB bought a new position in shares of Martin Marietta Materials in the third quarter worth about $197,000. Sanctuary Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Martin Marietta Materials by 18.5% in the 3rd quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 8,220 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $4,914,000 after purchasing an additional 1,286 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Virtu Financial LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Martin Marietta Materials during the 3rd quarter valued at $2,975,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 95.04% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on MLM. BNP Paribas cut Martin Marietta Materials from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. HSBC upgraded Martin Marietta Materials from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $690.00 price objective for the company in a report on Wednesday. StockNews.com upgraded Martin Marietta Materials from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, December 2nd. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their price target 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, Morgan Stanley raised their target price on Martin Marietta Materials from $610.00 to $657.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday, August 26th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $655.77.

Martin Marietta Materials Trading Down 1.1 %

MLM traded down $5.90 on Friday, hitting $550.92. The company had a trading volume of 297,362 shares, compared to its average volume of 443,841. The business's fifty day simple moving average is $579.17 and its 200 day simple moving average is $555.61. Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. has a 12-month low of $479.67 and a 12-month high of $633.23. The company has a market cap of $33.67 billion, a PE ratio of 17.17, a PEG ratio of 3.80 and a beta of 0.89. The company has a quick ratio of 1.24, a current ratio of 2.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43.

Martin Marietta Materials (NYSE:MLM - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The construction company reported $5.91 EPS 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 business's revenue was down 5.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $6.94 earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect that Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. will post 17.58 EPS for the current year.

Martin Marietta Materials Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Shareholders 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 0.57%. Martin Marietta Materials's dividend 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.