Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. (NYSE:MLM) Shares Sold by Lathrop Investment Management Corp

Lathrop Investment Management Corp reduced its position in Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. (NYSE:MLM) by 4.4% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 43,363 shares of the construction company’s stock after selling 1,974 shares during the quarter. Martin Marietta Materials comprises approximately 4.4% of Lathrop Investment Management Corp’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 2nd largest position. Lathrop Investment Management Corp owned about 0.07% of Martin Marietta Materials worth $21,634,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Amalgamated Bank increased its stake in shares of Martin Marietta Materials by 2.5% in the 3rd quarter. Amalgamated Bank now owns 16,460 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $6,757,000 after acquiring an additional 397 shares during the last quarter. Simplicity Solutions LLC increased its stake in shares of Martin Marietta Materials by 166.1% in the 4th quarter. Simplicity Solutions LLC now owns 2,725 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $1,360,000 after acquiring an additional 1,701 shares during the last quarter. Hudson Bay Capital Management LP acquired a new stake in shares of Martin Marietta Materials in the 3rd quarter worth $3,284,000. Cerity Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of Martin Marietta Materials by 199.8% in the 4th quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 4,791 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $2,390,000 after acquiring an additional 3,193 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd increased its stake in shares of Martin Marietta Materials by 1.5% in the 4th quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd now owns 5,739 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $2,863,000 after acquiring an additional 85 shares during the last quarter. 95.04% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have issued reports on MLM. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $600.00 target price (up from $530.00) on shares of Martin Marietta Materials in a research note on Friday, March 22nd. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on Martin Marietta Materials from $621.00 to $650.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, April 15th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price objective on Martin Marietta Materials from $642.00 to $737.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 16th. Wolfe Research downgraded Martin Marietta Materials from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research report on Friday, March 8th. Finally, Stephens raised their price objective on Martin Marietta Materials from $575.00 to $605.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 16th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $588.69.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO C Howard Nye sold 15,000 shares of Martin Marietta Materials stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $604.26, for a total value of $9,063,900.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 134,640 shares in the company, valued at approximately $81,357,566.40. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In other news, EVP Roselyn R. Bar sold 10,000 shares of Martin Marietta Materials stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $603.29, for a total value of $6,032,900.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 59,970 shares in the company, valued at approximately $36,179,301.30. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO C Howard Nye sold 15,000 shares of Martin Marietta Materials stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 134,640 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $81,357,566.40. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 26,724 shares of company stock worth $16,033,760. 0.61% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Martin Marietta Materials Trading Up 1.3 %

Martin Marietta Materials stock traded up $7.92 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $604.99. 386,242 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 397,845. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $593.37 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $515.98. Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. has a 12-month low of $345.03 and a 12-month high of $626.67. The firm has a market cap of $37.34 billion, a PE ratio of 32.14, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 0.96. The company has a current ratio of 3.35, a quick ratio of 2.50 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49.

Martin Marietta Materials (NYSE:MLM) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 14th. The construction company reported $4.63 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.96 by $0.67. Martin Marietta Materials had a return on equity of 15.77% and a net margin of 17.25%. The company had revenue of $1.61 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.62 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $3.04 EPS. Martin Marietta Materials’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.9% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts expect that Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. will post 21.3 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Martin Marietta Materials Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 28th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 4th were paid a $0.74 dividend. This represents a $2.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.49%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 1st. Martin Marietta Materials’s payout ratio is presently 15.72%.

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.