Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA Lowers Stock Position in Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. (NYSE:MLM)

Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lowered its position in Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. (NYSE:MLM - Free Report) by 99.4% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 3,426 shares of the construction company's stock after selling 605,713 shares during the quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA's holdings in Martin Marietta Materials were worth $1,844,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Intech Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Martin Marietta Materials by 9.6% in the third quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 4,120 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $2,218,000 after acquiring an additional 361 shares in the last quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Martin Marietta Materials by 5.3% during the third quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 24,995 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $13,454,000 after purchasing an additional 1,253 shares in the last quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. increased its holdings in Martin Marietta Materials by 1.0% during the third quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 37,797 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $20,344,000 after buying an additional 356 shares during the period. B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. Holding AG bought a new position in Martin Marietta Materials in the third quarter worth approximately $1,359,000. Finally, Banque Cantonale Vaudoise lifted its holdings in Martin Marietta Materials by 49.8% during the third quarter. Banque Cantonale Vaudoise now owns 2,863 shares of the construction company's stock worth $1,541,000 after buying an additional 952 shares during the period. 95.04% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Martin Marietta Materials Stock Performance

MLM stock traded down $1.37 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $595.60. The stock had a trading volume of 379,164 shares, compared to its average volume of 447,454. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $570.11 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $556.63. Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. has a 52-week low of $456.83 and a 52-week high of $633.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a quick ratio of 1.24 and a current ratio of 2.34. The stock has a market cap of $36.40 billion, a PE ratio of 18.56, a P/E/G ratio of 4.10 and a beta of 0.90.

Martin Marietta Materials (NYSE:MLM - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The construction company reported $5.91 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $6.41 by ($0.50). The firm 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 company's revenue for the quarter was down 5.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $6.94 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. will post 17.58 EPS for the current year.

Martin Marietta Materials Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 2nd will be paid a dividend of $0.79 per share. This represents a $3.16 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.53%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 2nd. Martin Marietta Materials's payout ratio is 9.85%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on MLM. Stephens cut their price target on Martin Marietta Materials from $650.00 to $610.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, August 9th. Jefferies Financial Group cut their target price on Martin Marietta Materials from $650.00 to $635.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. Barclays increased their price target on shares of Martin Marietta Materials from $595.00 to $645.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 29th. Truist Financial cut their price objective on shares of Martin Marietta Materials from $700.00 to $670.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, August 9th. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of Martin Marietta Materials from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, November 21st. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $644.46.

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.