The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company Sells 25,448 Shares of Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. (NYSE:MLM)

The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company lessened its holdings in Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. (NYSE:MLM) by 17.1% during the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 123,379 shares of the construction company’s stock after selling 25,448 shares during the period. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company’s holdings in Martin Marietta Materials were worth $66,409,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Martin Marietta Materials by 411.1% during the 2nd quarter. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 46 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 37 shares during the last quarter. Asset Dedication LLC lifted its position in Martin Marietta Materials by 1,300.0% during the third quarter. Asset Dedication LLC now owns 56 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $30,000 after acquiring an additional 52 shares during the last quarter. First Personal Financial Services acquired a new stake in Martin Marietta Materials during the third quarter worth approximately $33,000. Fortitude Family Office LLC grew its position in shares of Martin Marietta Materials by 186.4% in the second quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC now owns 63 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $34,000 after purchasing an additional 41 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Pathway Financial Advisers LLC acquired a new position in shares of Martin Marietta Materials in the first quarter valued at approximately $41,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 95.04% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MLM has been the subject of several recent research reports. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on Martin Marietta Materials from $610.00 to $657.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, August 26th. StockNews.com raised shares of Martin Marietta Materials from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 21st. Truist Financial decreased their price target on shares of Martin Marietta Materials from $700.00 to $670.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, August 9th. UBS Group started coverage on shares of Martin Marietta Materials in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $730.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group decreased their target price on shares of Martin Marietta Materials from $650.00 to $635.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $644.46.

Martin Marietta Materials Price Performance

Shares of MLM stock opened at $595.35 on Thursday. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $569.17 and a 200 day simple moving average of $556.36. The company has a market cap of $36.39 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.55, a P/E/G ratio of 4.10 and a beta of 0.90. The company has a quick ratio of 1.24, a current ratio of 2.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43. Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. has a twelve month low of $456.83 and a twelve month high of $633.23.

Martin Marietta Materials (NYSE:MLM) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The construction company reported $5.91 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.41 by ($0.50). The company had revenue of $1.89 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.94 billion. Martin Marietta Materials had a return on equity of 12.53% and a net margin of 30.47%. The firm’s revenue was down 5.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $6.94 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. will post 17.58 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Martin Marietta Materials Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 2nd will be paid a dividend of $0.79 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 2nd. This represents a $3.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.53%. Martin Marietta Materials’s payout ratio is presently 9.85%.

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.