Park Avenue Securities LLC Sells 479 Shares of Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. (NYSE:MLM)

Park Avenue Securities LLC cut its stake in Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. (NYSE:MLM - Free Report) by 19.7% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 1,951 shares of the construction company's stock after selling 479 shares during the quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC's holdings in Martin Marietta Materials were worth $1,008,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of MLM. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its stake in Martin Marietta Materials by 23.3% in 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 purchasing an additional 506,705 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC increased its position in shares of Martin Marietta Materials by 15.3% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 2,515,441 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $1,353,936,000 after buying an additional 334,605 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its stake in Martin Marietta Materials by 76.2% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,628,701 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $876,648,000 after acquiring an additional 704,460 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its stake in Martin Marietta Materials by 1.9% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 534,801 shares of the construction company's stock worth $295,397,000 after purchasing an additional 9,908 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Martin Marietta Materials by 54.2% during the third quarter. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. now owns 467,782 shares of the construction company's stock worth $251,784,000 after acquiring an additional 164,503 shares in the last quarter. 95.04% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Martin Marietta Materials Stock Performance

Shares of MLM stock traded up $9.84 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $552.40. 301,213 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 355,805. Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. has a 52 week low of $490.05 and a 52 week high of $633.23. The firm has a market capitalization of $33.76 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.24, a PEG ratio of 3.17 and a beta of 0.91. The firm's 50 day moving average price is $554.49 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $551.16. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a quick ratio of 1.24 and a current ratio of 2.34.

Martin Marietta Materials (NYSE:MLM - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The construction company reported $5.91 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $6.41 by ($0.50). The firm had revenue of $1.89 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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 was down 5.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $6.94 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. will post 17.57 earnings per share for the current year.

Martin Marietta Materials Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 2nd were given a dividend of $0.79 per share. This represents a $3.16 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.57%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 2nd. Martin Marietta Materials's payout ratio is 9.85%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have issued reports on MLM. UBS Group started coverage on Martin Marietta Materials in a report on Thursday, November 7th. They set a "buy" rating and a $730.00 target price for the company. Hsbc Global Res raised shares of Martin Marietta Materials from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on shares of Martin Marietta Materials from $657.00 to $622.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. Loop Capital boosted their price target on shares of Martin Marietta Materials from $600.00 to $680.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, HSBC raised Martin Marietta Materials from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $690.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $648.71.

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.