Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. Grows Position in Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. (NYSE:MLM)

Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. (NYSE:MLM) by 3.8% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 397,321 shares of the construction company’s stock after purchasing an additional 14,402 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc.’s holdings in Martin Marietta Materials were worth $205,216,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of MLM. Proficio Capital Partners LLC increased its holdings in Martin Marietta Materials by 54,277.3% during the fourth quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 918,432 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $474,370,000 after buying an additional 916,743 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Martin Marietta Materials by 76.2% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,628,701 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $876,648,000 after acquiring an additional 704,460 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its holdings in shares of Martin Marietta Materials by 23.3% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 2,678,425 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $1,441,663,000 after acquiring an additional 506,705 shares during the period. FMR LLC raised its position in shares of Martin Marietta Materials by 15.3% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 2,515,441 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $1,353,936,000 after acquiring an additional 334,605 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Public Sector Pension Investment Board lifted its stake in shares of Martin Marietta Materials by 7,608.2% during the 3rd quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 181,373 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $97,624,000 after purchasing an additional 179,020 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 95.04% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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 value of $632,700.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now 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 Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, SVP Michael J. Petro purchased 550 shares of Martin Marietta Materials stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 4th. The shares were bought 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 owns 8,985 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,082,514.45. This represents a 6.52 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 0.68% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have issued reports on the company. Citigroup cut their target price on Martin Marietta Materials from $701.00 to $600.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, January 6th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Martin Marietta Materials from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 20th. Wolfe Research raised shares of Martin Marietta Materials from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $563.00 target price for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Loop Capital cut their price target on shares of Martin Marietta Materials from $680.00 to $645.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on Martin Marietta Materials from $657.00 to $622.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating, fourteen have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $634.36.

Martin Marietta Materials Trading Down 0.3 %

Shares of NYSE:MLM opened at $476.02 on Friday. 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, Inc. has a 52-week low of $451.09 and a 52-week high of $633.23. The stock has a market cap of $29.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.72, a PEG ratio of 4.45 and a beta of 0.89. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $520.23 and a 200-day moving average price of $543.69.

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

Martin Marietta Materials Announces Dividend

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

Martin Marietta Materials Company 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.