AlphaQuest LLC Has $160,000 Position in Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. (NYSE:MLM)

AlphaQuest LLC reduced its stake in shares of Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. (NYSE:MLM) by 79.4% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 310 shares of the construction company’s stock after selling 1,194 shares during the quarter. AlphaQuest LLC’s holdings in Martin Marietta Materials were worth $160,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of MLM. Whipplewood Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Martin Marietta Materials during the 4th quarter valued at about $32,000. Kestra Investment Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Martin Marietta Materials during the 4th quarter valued at about $35,000. Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC bought a new position in shares of Martin Marietta Materials during the 4th quarter valued at about $41,000. R Squared Ltd bought a new position in shares of Martin Marietta Materials during the 4th quarter valued at about $41,000. Finally, Midwest Capital Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Martin Marietta Materials during the 4th quarter valued at about $47,000. 95.04% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Martin Marietta Materials Stock Up 2.5 %

MLM stock opened at $489.30 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 2.50, a quick ratio of 1.40 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56. The firm has a market capitalization of $29.83 billion, a PE ratio of 15.13, a PEG ratio of 4.45 and a beta of 0.89. Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. has a 1-year low of $448.50 and a 1-year high of $633.23. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $513.52 and its 200 day simple moving average is $540.64.

Martin Marietta Materials (NYSE:MLM) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The construction company reported $4.79 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.62 by $0.17. Martin Marietta Materials had a return on equity of 12.11% and a net margin of 30.54%. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. will post 19.53 EPS for the current year.

Martin Marietta Materials Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Monday, March 3rd will be issued a dividend of $0.79 per share. This represents a $3.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.65%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 3rd. Martin Marietta Materials’s payout ratio is presently 9.77%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, SVP Michael J. Petro acquired 550 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 4th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $454.37 per share, with a total value of $249,903.50. Following the acquisition, the senior vice president now directly owns 8,985 shares in the company, valued at $4,082,514.45. This represents a 6.52 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Donald A. Mccunniff sold 1,332 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $475.00, for a total value of $632,700.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 3,523 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,673,425. This represents a 27.44 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.68% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Barclays cut their price objective on Martin Marietta Materials from $645.00 to $600.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 13th. StockNews.com cut Martin Marietta Materials from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 20th. Wolfe Research upgraded Martin Marietta Materials from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $563.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Truist Financial cut their target price on Martin Marietta Materials from $670.00 to $610.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus started coverage on Martin Marietta Materials in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $559.00 target price on the stock. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating, fourteen have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Martin Marietta Materials has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $634.36.

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.