Parallel Advisors LLC Acquires 61 Shares of Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. (NYSE:MLM)

Parallel Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. (NYSE:MLM) by 5.0% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 1,279 shares of the construction company’s stock after purchasing an additional 61 shares during the period. Parallel Advisors LLC’s holdings in Martin Marietta Materials were worth $661,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Cibc World Markets Corp increased its stake in Martin Marietta Materials by 297.9% in the fourth quarter. Cibc World Markets Corp now owns 33,122 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $17,108,000 after acquiring an additional 24,798 shares during the period. Ironsides Asset Advisors LLC increased its stake in Martin Marietta Materials by 171.6% in the fourth quarter. Ironsides Asset Advisors LLC now owns 2,260 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $1,167,000 after acquiring an additional 1,428 shares during the period. Choate Investment Advisors increased its stake in Martin Marietta Materials by 5.9% in the fourth quarter. Choate Investment Advisors now owns 595 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $307,000 after acquiring an additional 33 shares during the period. Natixis Advisors LLC increased its stake in Martin Marietta Materials by 2.9% in the fourth quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 100,353 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $51,832,000 after acquiring an additional 2,799 shares during the period. Finally, Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in Martin Marietta Materials by 1.3% in the fourth quarter. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. now owns 473,632 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $244,631,000 after acquiring an additional 5,850 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 95.04% of the company’s stock.

Martin Marietta Materials Trading Down 1.3 %

Shares of NYSE MLM opened at $483.84 on Friday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $511.89 and its 200 day simple moving average is $539.58. Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $448.50 and a fifty-two week high of $633.23. The firm has a market capitalization of $29.50 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.97, a P/E/G ratio of 4.45 and a beta of 0.89. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56, a current ratio of 2.50 and a quick ratio of 1.40.

Martin Marietta Materials (NYSE:MLM) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 12th. The construction company reported $4.79 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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, analysts predict that Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. will post 19.53 EPS for the current year.

Martin Marietta Materials Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Monday, March 3rd will be issued a $0.79 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 3rd. This represents a $3.16 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.65%. Martin Marietta Materials’s dividend payout ratio is currently 9.77%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts recently weighed in on MLM shares. 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. Citigroup decreased their price objective 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. StockNews.com cut shares of Martin Marietta Materials from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 20th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut shares of Martin Marietta Materials from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their price objective for the stock from $640.00 to $560.00 in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus started coverage on shares of Martin Marietta Materials in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. They set a “buy” rating and a $559.00 price objective on the stock. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Martin Marietta Materials has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $628.64.

Insider Activity at Martin Marietta Materials

In other news, SVP Michael J. Petro bought 550 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 4th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $454.37 per share, for a total transaction of $249,903.50. Following the completion of the acquisition, the senior vice president now owns 8,985 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,082,514.45. This trade represents a 6.52 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Donald A. Mccunniff sold 1,332 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 5th. The stock was 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 owns 3,523 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,673,425. This trade represents a 27.44 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.68% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.