Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. (NYSE:MLM) Shares Bought by Principal Financial Group Inc.

Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. (NYSE:MLM - Free Report) by 11.7% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 1,819,744 shares of the construction company's stock after acquiring an additional 191,043 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned 2.98% of Martin Marietta Materials worth $939,898,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MLM. Franklin Street Advisors Inc. NC lifted its stake in Martin Marietta Materials by 15.5% during the fourth quarter. Franklin Street Advisors Inc. NC now owns 25,242 shares of the construction company's stock worth $13,037,000 after purchasing an additional 3,384 shares in the last quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Martin Marietta Materials by 18.5% during the third quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 8,220 shares of the construction company's stock worth $4,914,000 after purchasing an additional 1,286 shares in the last quarter. RMR Wealth Builders lifted its stake in Martin Marietta Materials by 431.3% during the fourth quarter. RMR Wealth Builders now owns 2,391 shares of the construction company's stock worth $1,235,000 after purchasing an additional 1,941 shares in the last quarter. Kovack Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in Martin Marietta Materials during the third quarter worth $734,000. Finally, Benjamin Edwards Inc. lifted its stake in Martin Marietta Materials by 2,448.1% during the third quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. now owns 1,376 shares of the construction company's stock worth $741,000 after purchasing an additional 1,322 shares in the last quarter. 95.04% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Martin Marietta Materials Stock Performance

NYSE:MLM traded down $15.48 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $505.47. The stock had a trading volume of 566,201 shares, compared to its average volume of 437,970. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56, a quick ratio of 1.40 and a current ratio of 2.50. The firm has a market capitalization of $30.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.63, a PEG ratio of 4.69 and a beta of 0.91. Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. has a twelve month low of $482.72 and a twelve month high of $633.23. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $531.34 and a 200 day simple moving average of $547.49.

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

Martin Marietta Materials Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 3rd will be paid a dividend of $0.79 per share. This represents a $3.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.63%. Martin Marietta Materials's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 9.77%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have commented on MLM. Barclays decreased their price target on Martin Marietta Materials from $645.00 to $600.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Loop Capital cut their price objective on Martin Marietta Materials from $680.00 to $645.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. BNP Paribas lowered Martin Marietta Materials from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. Hsbc Global Res raised Martin Marietta Materials from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. Finally, Raymond James cut their price objective on Martin Marietta Materials from $630.00 to $600.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. One equities research 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 stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Martin Marietta Materials has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $639.43.

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.