Franklin Resources Inc. Sells 10,216 Shares of Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. (NYSE:MLM)

Franklin Resources Inc. decreased its holdings in Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. (NYSE:MLM - Free Report) by 1.9% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 524,585 shares of the construction company's stock after selling 10,216 shares during the quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. owned 0.86% of Martin Marietta Materials worth $270,948,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. Franklin Street Advisors Inc. NC grew its holdings in shares of Martin Marietta Materials by 15.5% in the 4th 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 during the last quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Martin Marietta Materials by 18.5% in the third quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 8,220 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $4,914,000 after acquiring an additional 1,286 shares during the last quarter. RMR Wealth Builders increased its position in Martin Marietta Materials by 431.3% in 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 during the period. Benjamin Edwards Inc. raised its holdings in Martin Marietta Materials by 2,448.1% during the 3rd 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 during the last quarter. Finally, InTrack Investment Management Inc boosted its stake in shares of Martin Marietta Materials by 33.9% in the 4th quarter. InTrack Investment Management Inc now owns 3,446 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $1,784,000 after purchasing an additional 872 shares during the last quarter. 95.04% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have commented on the stock. Loop Capital lowered their target price on shares of Martin Marietta Materials from $645.00 to $615.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 1st. Raymond James dropped their price objective on Martin Marietta Materials from $630.00 to $600.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 13th. BNP Paribas cut Martin Marietta Materials from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. Truist Financial lowered their price target on Martin Marietta Materials from $670.00 to $610.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, Wolfe Research raised shares of Martin Marietta Materials from a "peer perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $563.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $626.50.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Donald A. Mccunniff sold 1,332 shares of the firm's 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 sale, the executive vice president now owns 3,523 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,673,425. This trade represents a 27.44 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, SVP Michael J. Petro purchased 550 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 4th. The stock was bought at an average price of $454.37 per share, for a total transaction of $249,903.50. Following the purchase, the senior vice president now owns 8,985 shares in the company, valued at $4,082,514.45. The trade was a 6.52 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 0.68% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Martin Marietta Materials Stock Down 3.0 %

Shares of NYSE:MLM traded down $14.64 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $470.33. The company had a trading volume of 889,629 shares, compared to its average volume of 483,187. The business's 50 day moving average price is $500.39 and its 200 day moving average price is $537.18. Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. has a 1-year low of $448.50 and a 1-year high of $633.23. The company has a quick ratio of 1.40, a current ratio of 2.50 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56. The stock has a market cap of $28.68 billion, a PE ratio of 14.55, a P/E/G ratio of 4.45 and a beta of 0.81.

Martin Marietta Materials (NYSE:MLM - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The construction company reported $4.79 earnings per share 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%. Research analysts forecast that Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. will post 19.53 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Martin Marietta Materials Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Monday, March 3rd were paid a $0.79 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 3rd. This represents a $3.16 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.67%. Martin Marietta Materials's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 9.77%.

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.