Martin Marietta Materials (NYSE:MLM) Rating Lowered to "Neutral" at JPMorgan Chase & Co.

JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered shares of Martin Marietta Materials (NYSE:MLM - Free Report) from an overweight rating to a neutral rating in a research report released on Wednesday, MarketBeat Ratings reports. The firm currently has $560.00 price target on the construction company's stock, down from their prior price target of $640.00.

Several other research analysts have also issued reports on the stock. HSBC raised shares of Martin Marietta Materials from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $690.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. Truist Financial cut their target price on shares of Martin Marietta Materials from $670.00 to $610.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Barclays cut their target price on shares of 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. Morgan Stanley cut their target price on shares of Martin Marietta Materials from $657.00 to $622.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. Finally, Citigroup cut their target price on shares of Martin Marietta Materials from $701.00 to $600.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, January 6th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating, thirteen have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $628.64.

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Martin Marietta Materials Trading Down 1.3 %

Shares of MLM traded down $6.29 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $477.49. 857,512 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 461,030. Martin Marietta Materials has a fifty-two week low of $448.50 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. The business has a 50-day moving average of $511.26 and a 200-day moving average of $539.52. The firm has a market capitalization of $29.11 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.77, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.45 and a beta of 0.89.

Martin Marietta Materials (NYSE:MLM - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The construction company reported $4.79 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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%. On average, research analysts expect that Martin Marietta Materials will post 19.53 EPS for the current year.

Martin Marietta Materials Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 3rd will be paid a $0.79 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 3rd. This represents a $3.16 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.66%. Martin Marietta Materials's payout ratio is 9.77%.

Insider Transactions at Martin Marietta Materials

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

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Martin Marietta Materials

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. 111 Capital bought a new position in shares of Martin Marietta Materials in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $221,000. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC boosted its position in shares of Martin Marietta Materials by 6.6% in the fourth quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 3,654 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $1,887,000 after acquiring an additional 227 shares during the period. NorthCrest Asset Manangement LLC boosted its position in shares of Martin Marietta Materials by 1.0% in the fourth quarter. NorthCrest Asset Manangement LLC now owns 28,559 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $14,751,000 after acquiring an additional 271 shares during the period. Siemens Fonds Invest GmbH boosted its position in shares of Martin Marietta Materials by 14.9% in the fourth quarter. Siemens Fonds Invest GmbH now owns 1,508 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $785,000 after acquiring an additional 195 shares during the period. Finally, Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH bought a new stake in Martin Marietta Materials during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $13,501,000. 95.04% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Martin Marietta Materials Company 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.