Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. (NYSE:MLM) Shares Sold by State of Tennessee Department of Treasury

State of Tennessee Department of Treasury reduced its stake in Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. (NYSE:MLM - Free Report) by 14.0% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 18,165 shares of the construction company's stock after selling 2,969 shares during the period. State of Tennessee Department of Treasury's holdings in Martin Marietta Materials were worth $9,382,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Martin Marietta Materials by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 7,174,183 shares of the construction company's stock worth $3,705,466,000 after purchasing an additional 36,531 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its stake in Martin Marietta Materials by 23.3% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 2,678,425 shares of the construction company's stock worth $1,441,663,000 after acquiring an additional 506,705 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Martin Marietta Materials by 11.7% during the 4th quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,819,744 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $939,898,000 after acquiring an additional 191,043 shares during the last quarter. Amundi boosted its position in shares of Martin Marietta Materials by 10.5% during the 4th quarter. Amundi now owns 1,562,146 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $808,005,000 after acquiring an additional 148,065 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Martin Marietta Materials by 2.2% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,472,411 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $758,499,000 after purchasing an additional 32,082 shares in the last quarter. 95.04% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Martin Marietta Materials Stock Down 0.8 %

Shares of MLM traded down $4.25 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $505.00. The company's stock had a trading volume of 327,918 shares, compared to its average volume of 486,969. The firm has a market capitalization of $30.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.62, a PEG ratio of 4.45 and a beta of 0.81. Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. has a 52-week low of $441.95 and a 52-week high of $633.23. The company has a current ratio of 2.50, a quick ratio of 1.40 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56. The company's 50-day moving average is $483.45 and its 200-day moving average is $531.57.

Martin Marietta Materials (NYSE:MLM - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The construction company reported $4.79 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.62 by $0.17. Martin Marietta Materials had a return on equity of 12.11% and a net margin of 30.54%. On average, equities 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 declared 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.63%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 3rd. Martin Marietta Materials's payout ratio is 9.77%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MLM has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. UBS Group cut shares of Martin Marietta Materials from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $491.00 price objective for the company. in a research note on Monday, April 7th. Raymond James reduced their price objective on Martin Marietta Materials from $630.00 to $600.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Stifel Nicolaus began coverage on Martin Marietta Materials in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $559.00 price objective for the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. downgraded Martin Marietta Materials from an "overweight" rating to a "neutral" rating and cut their target price for the company from $640.00 to $560.00 in a research report on Wednesday, March 19th. Finally, Seaport Res Ptn upgraded Martin Marietta Materials to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Friday, March 21st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $599.62.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Donald A. Mccunniff sold 1,332 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $475.00, for a total value of $632,700.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 3,523 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,673,425. This trade represents a 27.44 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Michael J. Petro bought 550 shares of Martin Marietta Materials stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 4th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $454.37 per share, for a total transaction of $249,903.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 8,985 shares in the company, valued at $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. Company insiders own 0.68% of the company's stock.

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.