KBC Group NV Sells 21,931 Shares of Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. (NYSE:MLM)

KBC Group NV lowered its position in Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. (NYSE:MLM) by 29.1% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 53,446 shares of the construction company’s stock after selling 21,931 shares during the period. KBC Group NV’s holdings in Martin Marietta Materials were worth $27,605,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the business. Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA purchased a new position in shares of Martin Marietta Materials in the fourth quarter valued at about $547,000. Blue Trust Inc. raised its stake in Martin Marietta Materials by 15.6% during the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 747 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $402,000 after purchasing an additional 101 shares during the period. High Net Worth Advisory Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Martin Marietta Materials during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $202,000. Stablepoint Partners LLC bought a new stake in Martin Marietta Materials in the 4th quarter valued at $472,000. Finally, Clarendon Private LLC bought a new position in shares of Martin Marietta Materials during the 4th quarter valued at about $383,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 95.04% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have weighed in on MLM shares. Loop Capital raised their price target on Martin Marietta Materials from $600.00 to $680.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded shares of Martin Marietta Materials from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $515.00 to $640.00 in a research report on Wednesday, November 27th. UBS Group started coverage on shares of Martin Marietta Materials in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. They set a “buy” rating and a $730.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Hsbc Global Res upgraded shares of Martin Marietta Materials from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $648.71.

Martin Marietta Materials Stock Performance

MLM stock opened at $542.33 on Wednesday. Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. has a twelve month low of $490.05 and a twelve month high of $633.23. The firm has a market cap of $33.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.90, a PEG ratio of 3.21 and a beta of 0.91. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $549.29 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $551.41. The company has a quick ratio of 1.24, a current ratio of 2.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43.

Martin Marietta Materials (NYSE:MLM) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The construction company reported $5.91 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $6.41 by ($0.50). The company had revenue of $1.89 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.94 billion. Martin Marietta Materials had a return on equity of 12.53% and a net margin of 30.47%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 5.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $6.94 EPS. Analysts predict that Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. will post 17.57 earnings per share for the current year.

Martin Marietta Materials Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 2nd were paid a dividend of $0.79 per share. This represents a $3.16 annualized dividend 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 presently 9.85%.

Martin Marietta Materials Company Profile

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.