ARS Investment Partners LLC Sells 91 Shares of Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. (NYSE:MLM)

ARS Investment Partners LLC cut its stake in Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. (NYSE:MLM) by 0.3% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 29,808 shares of the construction company’s stock after selling 91 shares during the period. Martin Marietta Materials accounts for about 1.4% of ARS Investment Partners LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 25th biggest position. ARS Investment Partners LLC’s holdings in Martin Marietta Materials were worth $15,396,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its holdings in Martin Marietta Materials by 23.3% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 2,678,425 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $1,441,663,000 after purchasing an additional 506,705 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC lifted its holdings in Martin Marietta Materials by 15.3% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 2,515,441 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $1,353,936,000 after buying an additional 334,605 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Martin Marietta Materials by 76.2% in the third 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 during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its stake in Martin Marietta Materials by 1.9% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 534,801 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $295,397,000 after acquiring an additional 9,908 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. grew its holdings in Martin Marietta Materials by 54.2% during the 3rd quarter. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. now owns 467,782 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $251,784,000 after acquiring an additional 164,503 shares during the period. 95.04% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Martin Marietta Materials Stock Up 2.3 %

Shares of Martin Marietta Materials stock opened at $543.33 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $33.21 billion, a PE ratio of 16.93, a P/E/G ratio of 3.17 and a beta of 0.91. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $554.49 and its 200 day simple moving average is $551.16. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a quick ratio of 1.24 and a current ratio of 2.34. Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. has a 52-week low of $490.05 and a 52-week high of $633.23.

Martin Marietta Materials (NYSE:MLM) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The construction company reported $5.91 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 revenue for the quarter was down 5.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $6.94 EPS. On average, analysts predict that Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. will post 17.57 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Martin Marietta Materials Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Investors of record on Monday, December 2nd were given a $0.79 dividend. This represents a $3.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.58%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 2nd. Martin Marietta Materials’s dividend payout ratio is currently 9.85%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on MLM. UBS Group began coverage on Martin Marietta Materials in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $730.00 price target on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised Martin Marietta Materials from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their target price for the company from $515.00 to $640.00 in a research note on Wednesday, November 27th. HSBC upgraded Martin Marietta Materials from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $690.00 target price for the company in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on shares of Martin Marietta Materials from $657.00 to $622.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. Finally, Wolfe Research upgraded shares of Martin Marietta Materials from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $563.00 price objective for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $648.71.

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.