Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. (NYSE:MLM) Stake Lowered by Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd

Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd decreased its holdings in shares of Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. (NYSE:MLM - Free Report) by 88.4% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 629 shares of the construction company's stock after selling 4,816 shares during the quarter. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd's holdings in Martin Marietta Materials were worth $339,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the business. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Martin Marietta Materials by 76.2% in the 3rd 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. FMR LLC raised its position in Martin Marietta Materials by 15.3% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 2,515,441 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $1,353,936,000 after purchasing an additional 334,605 shares during the period. Public Sector Pension Investment Board raised its position in Martin Marietta Materials by 7,608.2% in the third quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 181,373 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $97,624,000 after purchasing an additional 179,020 shares during the period. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. lifted its stake 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 purchasing an additional 164,503 shares in the last quarter. Finally, The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company boosted its position in shares of Martin Marietta Materials by 247.5% in the second quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 148,827 shares of the construction company's stock worth $80,634,000 after buying an additional 106,002 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 95.04% of the company's stock.

Martin Marietta Materials Stock Down 1.7 %

NYSE:MLM traded down $9.14 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $535.64. The stock had a trading volume of 724,156 shares, compared to its average volume of 444,884. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a current ratio of 2.34 and a quick ratio of 1.24. The company has a market capitalization of $32.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.69, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.80 and a beta of 0.89. Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. has a 1-year low of $479.67 and a 1-year high of $633.23. The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $580.15 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $555.29.

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 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 the consensus estimate of $1.94 billion. Martin Marietta Materials had a net margin of 30.47% and a return on equity of 12.53%. The firm's quarterly revenue was down 5.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $6.94 earnings per share. Equities analysts anticipate that Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. will post 17.58 EPS for the current year.

Martin Marietta Materials Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Investors of record on Monday, December 2nd will be issued a $0.79 dividend. This represents a $3.16 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.59%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 2nd. Martin Marietta Materials's dividend payout ratio is currently 9.85%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently commented on MLM. Hsbc Global Res upgraded Martin Marietta Materials from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of Martin Marietta Materials from $595.00 to $645.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 29th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Martin Marietta Materials from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, December 2nd. BNP Paribas downgraded shares of Martin Marietta Materials from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Finally, Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on shares of Martin Marietta Materials from $657.00 to $622.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $653.08.

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.