GAMMA Investing LLC Purchases New Holdings in Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. (NYSE:MLM)

GAMMA Investing LLC acquired a new stake in Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. (NYSE:MLM) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 669 shares of the construction company’s stock, valued at approximately $340,000.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MLM. Pinnacle Bancorp Inc. purchased a new stake in Martin Marietta Materials in the 4th quarter valued at about $26,000. MV Capital Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Martin Marietta Materials by 144.4% in the 3rd quarter. MV Capital Management Inc. now owns 66 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 39 shares during the period. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC purchased a new stake in Martin Marietta Materials during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Covestor Ltd lifted its position in Martin Marietta Materials by 84.6% during the third quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 72 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $30,000 after acquiring an additional 33 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Oliver Lagore Vanvalin Investment Group lifted its position in Martin Marietta Materials by 74.3% during the fourth quarter. Oliver Lagore Vanvalin Investment Group now owns 61 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $30,000 after acquiring an additional 26 shares during the last quarter. 95.04% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Martin Marietta Materials Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE MLM opened at $591.82 on Thursday. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $590.82 and its 200 day moving average price is $514.16. Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. has a 1 year low of $343.79 and a 1 year high of $626.67. The company has a market capitalization of $36.53 billion, a PE ratio of 31.43, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.88 and a beta of 0.96. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a quick ratio of 2.50 and a current ratio of 3.35.

Martin Marietta Materials (NYSE:MLM) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 14th. The construction company reported $4.63 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.96 by $0.67. The business had revenue of $1.61 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.62 billion. Martin Marietta Materials had a net margin of 17.25% and a return on equity of 15.77%. The company’s revenue was up 8.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $3.04 earnings per share. On average, research analysts predict that Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. will post 21.24 earnings per share for the current year.

Martin Marietta Materials Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 28th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 4th were paid a $0.74 dividend. This represents a $2.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.50%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 1st. Martin Marietta Materials’s dividend payout ratio is currently 15.72%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on MLM shares. Stephens increased their target price on shares of Martin Marietta Materials from $575.00 to $605.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 16th. Morgan Stanley started coverage on shares of Martin Marietta Materials in a research note on Monday, January 8th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $595.00 price target on the stock. Citigroup upped their price target on shares of Martin Marietta Materials from $635.00 to $708.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, April 5th. Wolfe Research lowered shares of Martin Marietta Materials from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research note on Friday, March 8th. Finally, HSBC upgraded shares of Martin Marietta Materials from a “reduce” rating to a “hold” rating and upped their price target for the company from $376.00 to $543.00 in a research note on Thursday, February 22nd. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Martin Marietta Materials has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $588.69.

Insider Transactions at Martin Marietta Materials

In other news, EVP Roselyn R. Bar sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $603.29, for a total value of $6,032,900.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 59,970 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $36,179,301.30. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In related news, EVP Roselyn R. Bar sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $603.29, for a total transaction of $6,032,900.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 59,970 shares in the company, valued at $36,179,301.30. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Sue W. Cole sold 1,724 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $543.48, for a total transaction of $936,959.52. Following the sale, the director now owns 19,793 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,757,099.64. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 26,724 shares of company stock valued at $16,033,760. Corporate insiders own 0.61% of the company’s stock.

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.