XTX Topco Ltd Invests $353,000 in Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. (NYSE:MLM)

XTX Topco Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. (NYSE:MLM - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 683 shares of the construction company's stock, valued at approximately $353,000.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Proficio Capital Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of Martin Marietta Materials by 54,277.3% in the 4th quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 918,432 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $474,370,000 after acquiring an additional 916,743 shares during the period. 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 purchasing an additional 704,460 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Martin Marietta Materials during the fourth quarter valued at about $306,863,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its holdings in shares of 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 valued at $1,441,663,000 after buying an additional 506,705 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in shares of Martin Marietta Materials during the 4th quarter worth approximately $196,374,000. 95.04% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In related news, SVP Michael J. Petro bought 550 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 4th. The stock was acquired at an average cost 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 $4,082,514.45. The trade was a 6.52 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Donald A. Mccunniff sold 1,332 shares of the company'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 directly owns 3,523 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,673,425. This represents a 27.44 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.68% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently commented on MLM. Stephens decreased their price objective on Martin Marietta Materials from $675.00 to $650.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Citigroup decreased their price objective on shares of Martin Marietta Materials from $701.00 to $600.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Wolfe Research upgraded shares of Martin Marietta Materials from a "peer perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $563.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Raymond James dropped their price objective on shares of Martin Marietta Materials from $630.00 to $600.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, UBS Group cut Martin Marietta Materials from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $491.00 price target for the company. in a research report on Monday, April 7th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $599.62.

Martin Marietta Materials Price Performance

NYSE MLM traded down $4.25 on Friday, hitting $505.00. The company had a trading volume of 327,918 shares, compared to its average volume of 486,969. 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 company has a market capitalization of $30.60 billion, a PE ratio of 15.62, a PEG ratio of 4.45 and a beta of 0.81. Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. has a 12-month low of $441.95 and a 12-month high of $633.23. The company's fifty day moving average price is $483.45 and its 200-day moving average price is $531.57.

Martin Marietta Materials (NYSE:MLM - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The construction company reported $4.79 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $4.62 by $0.17. Martin Marietta Materials had a net margin of 30.54% and a return on equity of 12.11%. As a group, analysts predict that Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. will post 19.53 earnings per share for the current year.

Martin Marietta Materials Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 3rd were paid a dividend of $0.79 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 3rd. This represents a $3.16 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.63%. Martin Marietta Materials's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 9.77%.

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.