HighTower Advisors LLC Sells 1,558 Shares of Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. (NYSE:MLM)

HighTower Advisors LLC lessened its holdings in Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. (NYSE:MLM) by 3.2% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 47,705 shares of the construction company’s stock after selling 1,558 shares during the quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC’s holdings in Martin Marietta Materials were worth $24,640,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Whipplewood Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Martin Marietta Materials during the 4th quarter worth approximately $32,000. Kestra Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Martin Marietta Materials during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $35,000. R Squared Ltd bought a new stake in Martin Marietta Materials during the fourth quarter worth $41,000. Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC purchased a new stake in Martin Marietta Materials in the 4th quarter valued at $41,000. Finally, Larson Financial Group LLC bought a new position in Martin Marietta Materials during the 3rd quarter valued at $49,000. Institutional investors own 95.04% of the company’s stock.

Martin Marietta Materials Price Performance

NYSE MLM opened at $478.12 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $29.15 billion, a PE ratio of 14.79, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.45 and a beta of 0.89. The company has a quick ratio of 1.40, a current ratio of 2.50 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $514.06 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $540.54. Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. has a 52 week low of $448.50 and a 52 week high of $633.23.

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

Martin Marietta Materials Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 3rd will be given a $0.79 dividend. This represents a $3.16 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.66%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 3rd. Martin Marietta Materials’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 9.77%.

Insider Activity at Martin Marietta Materials

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have recently issued reports on MLM shares. Truist Financial reduced their target price on shares of Martin Marietta Materials from $670.00 to $610.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Citigroup reduced 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 raised shares of Martin Marietta Materials from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $563.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Loop Capital reduced their target price on Martin Marietta Materials from $680.00 to $645.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, Stephens dropped their price target on Martin Marietta Materials from $675.00 to $650.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 13th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating, fourteen have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $634.36.

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.