Grunden Financial Advisory Inc. Buys New Shares in Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. (NYSE:MLM)

Grunden Financial Advisory Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. (NYSE:MLM) during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund bought 425 shares of the construction company’s stock, valued at approximately $212,000. Martin Marietta Materials comprises 0.1% of Grunden Financial Advisory Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 24th largest holding.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of MLM. Fairfield Bush & CO. purchased a new position in Martin Marietta Materials in the 1st quarter valued at about $46,000. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. increased its holdings in Martin Marietta Materials by 4.0% in the 1st quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 391,276 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $150,599,000 after purchasing an additional 15,163 shares during the last quarter. Yousif Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Martin Marietta Materials by 0.4% in the 1st quarter. Yousif Capital Management LLC now owns 9,391 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $3,615,000 after purchasing an additional 40 shares during the last quarter. Prudential PLC acquired a new stake in Martin Marietta Materials in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $456,000. Finally, Cetera Investment Advisers grew its stake in shares of Martin Marietta Materials by 12.8% in the first quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 950 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $366,000 after acquiring an additional 108 shares in the last quarter. 95.04% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at Martin Marietta Materials

In other news, CEO C Howard Nye sold 15,000 shares of Martin Marietta Materials stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $604.26, for a total value of $9,063,900.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 134,640 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $81,357,566.40. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other Martin Marietta Materials news, CEO C Howard Nye sold 15,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $604.26, for a total value of $9,063,900.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 134,640 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $81,357,566.40. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Roselyn R. Bar sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $603.29, for a total transaction of $6,032,900.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 59,970 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $36,179,301.30. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 26,724 shares of company stock valued at $16,033,760 in the last quarter. Insiders own 0.61% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have commented on MLM. JPMorgan Chase & Co. restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $600.00 price target (up previously from $530.00) on shares of Martin Marietta Materials in a research note on Friday, March 22nd. StockNews.com cut shares of Martin Marietta Materials from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, February 9th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their target price on shares of Martin Marietta Materials from $621.00 to $650.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday. Morgan Stanley started coverage on shares of Martin Marietta Materials in a research report on Monday, January 8th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $595.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Wolfe Research downgraded shares of Martin Marietta Materials from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research note on Friday, March 8th. Four 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 presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $588.69.

Martin Marietta Materials Stock Performance

Shares of Martin Marietta Materials stock traded down $5.79 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $587.13. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 539,182 shares, compared to its average volume of 402,533. The stock has a market cap of $36.24 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.18, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 0.96. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $585.17 and its 200 day simple moving average is $508.20. Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. has a one year low of $343.79 and a one year high of $626.67. 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 issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 14th. The construction company reported $4.63 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.96 by $0.67. Martin Marietta Materials had a net margin of 17.25% and a return on equity of 15.77%. The firm had revenue of $1.61 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.62 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $3.04 EPS. Martin Marietta Materials’s quarterly revenue was up 8.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts expect that Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. will post 21.23 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Martin Marietta Materials Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 4th were given a dividend of $0.74 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 1st. This represents a $2.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.50%. Martin Marietta Materials’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 15.72%.

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.