Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. Raises Stock Holdings in Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. (NYSE:MLM)

Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. boosted its position in Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. (NYSE:MLM) by 141.0% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 20,978 shares of the construction company’s stock after purchasing an additional 12,275 shares during the quarter. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Martin Marietta Materials were worth $12,879,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Amalgamated Bank lifted its position in Martin Marietta Materials by 2.5% during the third quarter. Amalgamated Bank now owns 16,460 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $6,757,000 after acquiring an additional 397 shares during the last quarter. Simplicity Solutions LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Martin Marietta Materials by 166.1% during the 4th quarter. Simplicity Solutions LLC now owns 2,725 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $1,360,000 after purchasing an additional 1,701 shares during the last quarter. Hudson Bay Capital Management LP acquired a new stake in shares of Martin Marietta Materials in the 3rd quarter worth $3,284,000. Cerity Partners LLC grew its stake in Martin Marietta Materials by 199.8% during the 4th quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 4,791 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $2,390,000 after buying an additional 3,193 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd increased its position in Martin Marietta Materials by 1.5% during the 4th quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd now owns 5,739 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $2,863,000 after buying an additional 85 shares in the last quarter. 95.04% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO C Howard Nye sold 15,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $604.26, for a total transaction of $9,063,900.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 134,640 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $81,357,566.40. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In other Martin Marietta Materials news, Director Sue W. Cole sold 1,724 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $543.48, for a total transaction of $936,959.52. Following the transaction, the director now owns 19,793 shares in the company, valued at $10,757,099.64. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, 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 owns 134,640 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $81,357,566.40. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 26,724 shares of company stock worth $16,033,760. Corporate insiders own 0.61% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. HSBC upgraded Martin Marietta Materials from a “reduce” rating to a “hold” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $376.00 to $543.00 in a research note on Thursday, February 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $600.00 target price (up previously from $530.00) on shares of Martin Marietta Materials in a research report on Friday, March 22nd. Morgan Stanley assumed coverage on shares of Martin Marietta Materials in a report on Monday, January 8th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $595.00 price target for the company. Raymond James lifted their price objective on shares of Martin Marietta Materials from $505.00 to $555.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 25th. Finally, StockNews.com raised Martin Marietta Materials from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $588.69.

Martin Marietta Materials Stock Performance

Shares of Martin Marietta Materials stock traded up $1.07 during trading on Friday, hitting $591.03. 491,967 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 472,357. Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. has a 52-week low of $384.61 and a 52-week high of $626.67. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.44, a quick ratio of 2.50 and a current ratio of 3.16. The stock has a market capitalization of $36.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.51, a PEG ratio of 2.80 and a beta of 0.95. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $598.46 and a 200-day simple moving average of $522.18.

Martin Marietta Materials (NYSE:MLM) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 30th. The construction company reported $1.93 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.88 by $0.05. Martin Marietta Materials had a return on equity of 14.74% and a net margin of 31.35%. The business had revenue of $1.25 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.31 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $2.16 EPS. The company’s revenue was down 7.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts forecast that Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. will post 21.7 EPS for the current 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 issued a $0.74 dividend. This represents a $2.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.50%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 1st. Martin Marietta Materials’s payout ratio is presently 8.77%.

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.