KBC Group NV Acquires 64,722 Shares of Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. (NYSE:MLM)

KBC Group NV grew its stake in shares of Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. (NYSE:MLM - Free Report) by 607.4% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 75,377 shares of the construction company's stock after purchasing an additional 64,722 shares during the quarter. KBC Group NV owned approximately 0.12% of Martin Marietta Materials worth $40,572,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in MLM. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Martin Marietta Materials by 76.2% during the third 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 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 buying an additional 523,038 shares during the last quarter. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. increased its position in 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 buying an additional 164,503 shares during the last quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company increased its position in Martin Marietta Materials by 247.5% during the second quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 148,827 shares of the construction company's stock worth $80,634,000 after buying an additional 106,002 shares during the last quarter. Finally, M&G Plc acquired a new position in Martin Marietta Materials during the first quarter worth $41,142,000. 95.04% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently weighed in on MLM. UBS Group initiated coverage on shares of Martin Marietta Materials in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $730.00 target price for the company. Truist Financial lowered their target price 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. Citigroup decreased their price target on shares of Martin Marietta Materials from $658.00 to $646.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Monday, August 12th. BNP Paribas raised shares of Martin Marietta Materials to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, September 19th. Finally, 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 note on Thursday, October 31st. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. 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 Stock Down 0.8 %

MLM stock traded down $4.93 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $583.03. 399,060 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 447,505. The company has a current ratio of 2.34, a quick ratio of 1.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43. Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. has a 12-month low of $451.37 and a 12-month high of $633.23. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $555.96 and a 200-day moving average price of $557.02. The stock has a market capitalization of $35.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.17, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.04 and a beta of 0.90.

Martin Marietta Materials (NYSE:MLM - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results 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 business 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%. The business's quarterly revenue was down 5.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $6.94 EPS. On average, analysts anticipate that Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. will post 17.84 EPS for the current year.

Martin Marietta Materials Dividend Announcement

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