Aviva PLC Trims Holdings in Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. (NYSE:MLM)

Aviva PLC reduced its position in shares of Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. (NYSE:MLM) by 55.6% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 36,828 shares of the construction company’s stock after selling 46,164 shares during the period. Aviva PLC owned 0.06% of Martin Marietta Materials worth $19,022,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Franklin Street Advisors Inc. NC grew its stake in Martin Marietta Materials by 15.5% in the 4th quarter. Franklin Street Advisors Inc. NC now owns 25,242 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $13,037,000 after acquiring an additional 3,384 shares during the period. Sanctuary Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Martin Marietta Materials by 18.5% during the third quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 8,220 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $4,914,000 after purchasing an additional 1,286 shares during the last quarter. RMR Wealth Builders grew its position in shares of Martin Marietta Materials by 431.3% in the fourth quarter. RMR Wealth Builders now owns 2,391 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $1,235,000 after purchasing an additional 1,941 shares during the period. InTrack Investment Management Inc increased its stake in Martin Marietta Materials by 33.9% in the fourth quarter. InTrack Investment Management Inc now owns 3,446 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $1,784,000 after purchasing an additional 872 shares during the last quarter. Finally, National Bank of Canada FI lifted its position in Martin Marietta Materials by 158.2% during the third quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 43,952 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $23,657,000 after buying an additional 26,929 shares during the period. 95.04% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Martin Marietta Materials Stock Down 2.4 %

NYSE MLM opened at $459.19 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $28.00 billion, a PE ratio of 14.20, a P/E/G ratio of 4.45 and a beta of 0.81. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $498.65 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $536.58. Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $444.91 and a fifty-two week high of $633.23. The company has a quick ratio of 1.40, a current ratio of 2.50 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56.

Martin Marietta Materials (NYSE:MLM) last announced its earnings results 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%. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. will post 19.53 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Martin Marietta Materials Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Monday, March 3rd were issued a $0.79 dividend. This represents a $3.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.69%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 3rd. Martin Marietta Materials’s dividend payout ratio is currently 9.77%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Martin Marietta Materials

In other Martin Marietta Materials news, SVP Michael J. Petro bought 550 shares of Martin Marietta Materials stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 4th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $454.37 per share, for a total transaction of $249,903.50. Following the purchase, the senior vice president now owns 8,985 shares in the company, valued at $4,082,514.45. This represents a 6.52 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Donald A. Mccunniff sold 1,332 shares of Martin Marietta Materials 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,673,425. This trade represents a 27.44 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.68% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently commented on MLM. Seaport Res Ptn raised shares of Martin Marietta Materials to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, March 21st. Stifel Nicolaus started coverage on shares of Martin Marietta Materials in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. They set a “buy” rating and a $559.00 price target for the company. UBS Group lowered shares of Martin Marietta Materials from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $491.00 price target on the stock. in a report on Monday. StockNews.com downgraded Martin Marietta Materials from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Thursday, February 20th. Finally, Wolfe Research upgraded Martin Marietta Materials from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $563.00 target price on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $609.43.

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.