Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. (NYSE:MLM) Shares Sold by Confluence Investment Management LLC

Confluence Investment Management LLC reduced its stake in shares of Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. (NYSE:MLM - Free Report) by 2.4% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 62,668 shares of the construction company's stock after selling 1,541 shares during the quarter. Confluence Investment Management LLC owned about 0.10% of Martin Marietta Materials worth $32,368,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its stake in Martin Marietta Materials by 23.3% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 2,678,425 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $1,441,663,000 after acquiring an additional 506,705 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its position in shares of Martin Marietta Materials by 1.9% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 534,801 shares of the construction company's stock worth $295,397,000 after buying an additional 9,908 shares in the last quarter. Synovus Financial Corp grew its holdings in Martin Marietta Materials by 8.0% during the 3rd quarter. Synovus Financial Corp now owns 10,021 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $5,394,000 after buying an additional 741 shares in the last quarter. Tidal Investments LLC grew its holdings in shares of Martin Marietta Materials by 89.3% in the third 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB purchased a new position in shares of Martin Marietta Materials in the 3rd quarter worth $197,000. Institutional investors own 95.04% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently weighed in on MLM. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised shares of Martin Marietta Materials from a "neutral" rating to an "overweight" rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $515.00 to $640.00 in a research report on Wednesday, November 27th. BNP Paribas downgraded Martin Marietta Materials from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. StockNews.com cut Martin Marietta Materials from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report on Wednesday. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of Martin Marietta Materials from $595.00 to $645.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 29th. Finally, Loop Capital upped their target price on Martin Marietta Materials from $600.00 to $680.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating, thirteen have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $653.08.

Martin Marietta Materials Stock Performance

NYSE:MLM traded down $5.94 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $510.56. The company's stock had a trading volume of 414,679 shares, compared to its average volume of 443,312. The business's fifty day moving average is $572.06 and its two-hundred day moving average is $552.78. The stock has a market cap of $31.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.91, a PEG ratio of 3.74 and a beta of 0.89. Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. has a 1 year low of $479.67 and a 1 year high of $633.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a current ratio of 2.34 and a quick ratio of 1.24.

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 during 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 firm's quarterly revenue was down 5.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $6.94 EPS. Analysts anticipate that Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. will post 17.58 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Martin Marietta Materials Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 2nd were issued a dividend of $0.79 per share. This represents a $3.16 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.62%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 2nd. Martin Marietta Materials's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 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.