Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. (NYSE:MLM) Shares Purchased by Swiss National Bank

Swiss National Bank grew its holdings in Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. (NYSE:MLM) by 0.2% in the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 182,970 shares of the construction company’s stock after buying an additional 300 shares during the quarter. Swiss National Bank owned 0.30% of Martin Marietta Materials worth $98,484,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its holdings in 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 buying an additional 704,460 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its position in Martin Marietta Materials by 114.3% in the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 980,699 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $602,092,000 after purchasing an additional 523,038 shares in the last quarter. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. raised its position in Martin Marietta Materials by 54.2% in the 3rd quarter. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. now owns 467,782 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $251,784,000 after purchasing an additional 164,503 shares in the last quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company increased its holdings in shares of Martin Marietta Materials by 247.5% in the 2nd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 148,827 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $80,634,000 after acquiring an additional 106,002 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its holdings in shares of Martin Marietta Materials by 682.5% in the 3rd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 75,045 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $40,393,000 after acquiring an additional 65,454 shares during the last quarter. 95.04% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have weighed in on MLM shares. Loop Capital increased their price objective on Martin Marietta Materials from $600.00 to $680.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. UBS Group started coverage on Martin Marietta Materials in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $730.00 price objective for the company. Stephens lowered their price target on Martin Marietta Materials from $650.00 to $610.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, August 9th. StockNews.com upgraded Martin Marietta Materials from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, November 8th. Finally, Barclays boosted their price target on Martin Marietta Materials from $595.00 to $645.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 29th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Martin Marietta Materials presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $634.85.

Martin Marietta Materials Stock Performance

Shares of MLM stock opened at $581.64 on Tuesday. Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. has a 12-month low of $451.37 and a 12-month high of $633.23. The firm has a market capitalization of $35.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.13, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.90 and a beta of 0.90. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $557.57 and a 200 day simple moving average of $556.43. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a current ratio of 2.34 and a quick ratio of 1.24.

Martin Marietta Materials (NYSE:MLM) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The construction company reported $5.91 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.41 by ($0.50). The business 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 business’s quarterly revenue was down 5.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $6.94 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. will post 17.84 EPS for the current year.

Martin Marietta Materials Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 2nd will be given a dividend of $0.79 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 2nd. This represents a $3.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.54%. Martin Marietta Materials’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.