Marshall Wace LLP Sells 173,990 Shares of Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. (NYSE:MLM)

Marshall Wace LLP lowered its stake in Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. (NYSE:MLM - Free Report) by 83.2% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 35,112 shares of the construction company's stock after selling 173,990 shares during the period. Marshall Wace LLP owned 0.06% of Martin Marietta Materials worth $18,135,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Martin Marietta Materials by 76.2% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,628,701 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $876,648,000 after purchasing an additional 704,460 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its stake in shares of Martin Marietta Materials by 9.8% in the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 425 shares of the construction company's stock worth $229,000 after acquiring an additional 38 shares in the last quarter. Virtu Financial LLC acquired a new stake in Martin Marietta Materials in the third quarter valued at approximately $2,975,000. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB purchased a new stake in Martin Marietta Materials during the 3rd quarter worth about $197,000. Finally, Tidal Investments LLC raised its stake in Martin Marietta Materials by 89.3% during the 3rd quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 8,008 shares of the construction company's stock worth $4,310,000 after acquiring an additional 3,778 shares in the last quarter. 95.04% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Martin Marietta Materials Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:MLM traded down $3.18 during trading on Friday, reaching $506.08. The company had a trading volume of 96,577 shares, compared to its average volume of 542,577. The firm has a market capitalization of $30.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.65, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.45 and a beta of 0.81. The stock's fifty day moving average price is $484.04 and its 200 day moving average price is $531.70. Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $441.95 and a fifty-two week high of $633.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56, a current ratio of 2.50 and a quick ratio of 1.40.

Martin Marietta Materials (NYSE:MLM - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The construction company reported $4.79 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.62 by $0.17. Martin Marietta Materials had a net margin of 30.54% and a return on equity of 12.11%. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. will post 19.53 EPS for the current year.

Martin Marietta Materials Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 3rd were given a dividend of $0.79 per share. This represents a $3.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.62%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 3rd. Martin Marietta Materials's dividend payout ratio is 9.77%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Donald A. Mccunniff sold 1,332 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $475.00, for a total transaction of $632,700.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 3,523 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,673,425. This represents a 27.44 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, SVP Michael J. Petro bought 550 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 4th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $454.37 per share, for a total transaction of $249,903.50. Following the completion of the purchase, the senior vice president now directly 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. Corporate insiders own 0.68% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on MLM shares. Citigroup cut their target price on shares of Martin Marietta Materials from $701.00 to $600.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Truist Financial reduced their price objective on Martin Marietta Materials from $670.00 to $610.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Seaport Res Ptn raised Martin Marietta Materials to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Friday, March 21st. Stifel Nicolaus assumed coverage on shares of Martin Marietta Materials in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $559.00 price target on the stock. Finally, StockNews.com cut shares of Martin Marietta Materials from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Thursday, February 20th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Martin Marietta Materials presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $599.62.

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.