UniSuper Management Pty Ltd Acquires 1,074 Shares of Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. (NYSE:MLM)

UniSuper Management Pty Ltd grew its holdings in Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. (NYSE:MLM) by 22.9% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 5,773 shares of the construction company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,074 shares during the quarter. UniSuper Management Pty Ltd’s holdings in Martin Marietta Materials were worth $2,982,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of MLM. Lee Danner & Bass Inc. bought a new stake in Martin Marietta Materials in the fourth quarter worth $28,000. Whipplewood Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Martin Marietta Materials in the fourth quarter worth about $32,000. Kestra Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Martin Marietta Materials during the 4th quarter worth about $35,000. Hopwood Financial Services Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Martin Marietta Materials during the 4th quarter valued at about $36,000. Finally, EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Martin Marietta Materials by 91.9% in the 4th quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 71 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $37,000 after acquiring an additional 34 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 95.04% of the company’s stock.

Martin Marietta Materials Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:MLM opened at $477.92 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $29.14 billion, a PE ratio of 14.78, a PEG ratio of 4.45 and a beta of 0.89. The company has a current ratio of 2.50, a quick ratio of 1.40 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56. Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. has a 1-year low of $448.50 and a 1-year high of $633.23. The business’s 50 day moving average is $507.03 and its 200-day moving average is $538.56.

Martin Marietta Materials (NYSE:MLM) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The construction company reported $4.79 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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%. Sell-side analysts predict that Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. will post 19.53 earnings per share for the current year.

Martin Marietta Materials Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Monday, March 3rd will be paid a $0.79 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 3rd. This represents a $3.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.66%. Martin Marietta Materials’s payout ratio is currently 9.77%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Donald A. Mccunniff sold 1,332 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $475.00, for a total value of $632,700.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 3,523 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,673,425. This represents a 27.44 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, SVP Michael J. Petro bought 550 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 4th. The shares were bought at an average price of $454.37 per share, with a total value of $249,903.50. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 8,985 shares in the company, valued at $4,082,514.45. This trade represents a 6.52 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Company insiders own 0.68% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MLM has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. HSBC raised Martin Marietta Materials from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $690.00 target price for the company in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. downgraded 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 report on Wednesday, March 19th. Stifel Nicolaus began coverage on shares of Martin Marietta Materials in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $559.00 target price on the stock. StockNews.com cut shares of Martin Marietta Materials from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Thursday, February 20th. Finally, Wolfe Research raised 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 report on Wednesday, January 8th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating, thirteen have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $628.64.

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.