PNC Financial Services Group Inc. Lowers Stock Position in Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. (NYSE:MLM)

PNC Financial Services Group Inc. cut its stake in shares of Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. (NYSE:MLM) by 9.0% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 34,379 shares of the construction company’s stock after selling 3,418 shares during the period. PNC Financial Services Group Inc.’s holdings in Martin Marietta Materials were worth $17,757,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Whipplewood Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Martin Marietta Materials in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Kestra Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in Martin Marietta Materials during the fourth quarter worth $35,000. R Squared Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Martin Marietta Materials during the fourth quarter worth $41,000. Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Martin Marietta Materials in the fourth quarter valued at $41,000. Finally, Larson Financial Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Martin Marietta Materials in the 3rd quarter valued at $49,000. 95.04% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related 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 value of $632,700.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 3,523 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,673,425. This represents a 27.44 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, SVP Michael J. Petro purchased 550 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 4th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $454.37 per share, for a total transaction of $249,903.50. Following the purchase, the senior vice president now directly owns 8,985 shares in the company, valued at $4,082,514.45. The trade was a 6.52 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 0.68% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MLM has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. HSBC upgraded Martin Marietta Materials from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $690.00 target price for the company in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. Stifel Nicolaus started coverage on shares of Martin Marietta Materials in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $559.00 price objective for the company. BNP Paribas lowered shares of Martin Marietta Materials from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. Raymond James decreased their price target on shares of Martin Marietta Materials from $630.00 to $600.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, Loop Capital cut their price objective on Martin Marietta Materials from $680.00 to $645.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating, fourteen have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Martin Marietta Materials presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $634.36.

Martin Marietta Materials Trading Up 1.5 %

NYSE:MLM opened at $467.37 on Tuesday. Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. has a 1 year low of $448.50 and a 1 year high of $633.23. The stock has a market cap of $28.50 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.46, a P/E/G ratio of 4.45 and a beta of 0.89. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56, a quick ratio of 1.40 and a current ratio of 2.50. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $517.81 and a 200-day simple moving average of $542.72.

Martin Marietta Materials (NYSE:MLM) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The construction company reported $4.79 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.62 by $0.17. Martin Marietta Materials had a return on equity of 12.11% and a net margin of 30.54%. As a group, analysts anticipate that Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. will post 19.53 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Martin Marietta Materials Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Monday, March 3rd will be given a $0.79 dividend. This represents a $3.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.68%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 3rd. Martin Marietta Materials’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 9.77%.

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.