First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. Purchases 194 Shares of Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. (NYSE:MLM)

First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. boosted its position in Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. (NYSE:MLM) by 21.6% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 1,093 shares of the construction company’s stock after purchasing an additional 194 shares during the period. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P.’s holdings in Martin Marietta Materials were worth $545,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the business. Pinnacle Bancorp Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Martin Marietta Materials in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. MV Capital Management Inc. boosted its position in Martin Marietta Materials by 144.4% during the third quarter. MV Capital Management Inc. now owns 66 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 39 shares during the period. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC acquired a new position in shares of Martin Marietta Materials in the fourth quarter valued at $27,000. Covestor Ltd lifted its stake in shares of Martin Marietta Materials by 84.6% during the 3rd quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 72 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $30,000 after buying an additional 33 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Oliver Lagore Vanvalin Investment Group boosted its holdings in shares of Martin Marietta Materials by 74.3% during the 4th quarter. Oliver Lagore Vanvalin Investment Group now owns 61 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $30,000 after buying an additional 26 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 95.04% of the company’s stock.

Martin Marietta Materials Stock Up 0.2 %

Shares of NYSE MLM opened at $591.03 on Monday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $598.46 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $522.94. Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. has a 12 month low of $384.61 and a 12 month high of $626.67. The company has a current ratio of 3.16, a quick ratio of 2.41 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.44. The company has a market cap of $36.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.51, a PEG ratio of 2.80 and a beta of 0.95.

Martin Marietta Materials (NYSE:MLM) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 30th. The construction company reported $1.93 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.88 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $1.25 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.31 billion. Martin Marietta Materials had a net margin of 31.35% and a return on equity of 14.74%. The firm’s revenue was down 7.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.16 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. will post 21.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Martin Marietta Materials Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 4th were given a $0.74 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 1st. This represents a $2.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.50%. Martin Marietta Materials’s dividend payout ratio is presently 8.77%.

Insider Activity

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 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 approximately $81,357,566.40. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In other news, EVP Roselyn R. Bar sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 59,970 shares in the company, valued at $36,179,301.30. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO C Howard Nye sold 15,000 shares of the company’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 in the company, valued at $81,357,566.40. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 26,724 shares of company stock valued at $16,033,760. 0.68% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have issued reports on MLM. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price objective on shares of Martin Marietta Materials from $642.00 to $737.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 16th. Morgan Stanley initiated coverage on Martin Marietta Materials in a research report on Monday, January 8th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $595.00 price objective on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on shares of Martin Marietta Materials from $621.00 to $650.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, April 15th. Wolfe Research cut shares of Martin Marietta Materials from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research note on Friday, March 8th. Finally, Raymond James boosted their price objective on shares of Martin Marietta Materials from $505.00 to $555.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, January 25th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $598.17.

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.