Fred Alger Management LLC Trims Stock Holdings in Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. $MLM

Fred Alger Management LLC reduced its holdings in shares of Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. (NYSE:MLM) by 5.1% in the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 174,081 shares of the construction company’s stock after selling 9,275 shares during the period. Fred Alger Management LLC’s holdings in Martin Marietta Materials were worth $109,720,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Bank of America Corp DE increased its stake in Martin Marietta Materials by 31.9% in the second quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 2,340,677 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $1,284,938,000 after purchasing an additional 565,856 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Martin Marietta Materials during the second quarter worth $233,811,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Martin Marietta Materials by 9.6% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 2,204,425 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $1,389,428,000 after purchasing an additional 192,637 shares during the period. Freestone Grove Partners LP grew its holdings in shares of Martin Marietta Materials by 748.5% in the third quarter. Freestone Grove Partners LP now owns 124,963 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $78,762,000 after purchasing an additional 110,236 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Martin Marietta Materials by 1.3% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 7,442,945 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $4,691,139,000 after purchasing an additional 93,595 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 95.04% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MLM has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on shares of Martin Marietta Materials from $706.00 to $702.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, March 9th. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of Martin Marietta Materials from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research note on Monday, February 23rd. Loop Capital lowered shares of Martin Marietta Materials from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $690.00 target price on the stock. in a research report on Wednesday, January 28th. Citigroup lifted their price target on shares of Martin Marietta Materials from $780.00 to $804.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, March 2nd. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $630.00 price target on shares of Martin Marietta Materials in a report on Thursday, February 26th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $696.88.

Martin Marietta Materials Stock Performance

MLM stock opened at $584.08 on Monday. Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. has a 1-year low of $441.95 and a 1-year high of $710.97. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $654.23 and a 200 day moving average price of $632.73. The company has a market capitalization of $35.23 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.07, a PEG ratio of 2.30 and a beta of 1.13. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53, a current ratio of 3.57 and a quick ratio of 2.36.

Martin Marietta Materials (NYSE:MLM) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, February 11th. The construction company reported $4.62 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $4.81 by ($0.19). The business had revenue of $1.53 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.66 billion. Martin Marietta Materials had a return on equity of 10.86% and a net margin of 17.38%.The firm’s revenue was up 9.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $4.79 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. will post 19.53 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Martin Marietta Materials Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 2nd will be paid a dividend of $0.83 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 2nd. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.6%. Martin Marietta Materials’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 17.66%.

About Martin Marietta Materials

Martin Marietta Materials, Inc (NYSE: MLM) is a leading producer of aggregates and heavy building materials serving the construction and infrastructure markets. The company operates quarries, sand and gravel pits, and other extraction sites to supply crushed stone, sand and gravel, and a range of value?added products for use in roads, bridges, commercial and residential construction, and other civil engineering projects.

In addition to its core aggregates business, Martin Marietta manufactures and sells asphalt, ready?mixed concrete and related materials and services.