Transamerica Financial Advisors Inc. Has $3.81 Million Stake in Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. (NYSE:MLM)

Transamerica Financial Advisors Inc. reduced its stake in shares of Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. (NYSE:MLM) by 2.6% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 7,370 shares of the construction company’s stock after selling 200 shares during the period. Transamerica Financial Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Martin Marietta Materials were worth $3,807,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of MLM. Franklin Street Advisors Inc. NC raised its position in shares of Martin Marietta Materials by 15.5% during the fourth quarter. Franklin Street Advisors Inc. NC now owns 25,242 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $13,037,000 after acquiring an additional 3,384 shares during the last quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Martin Marietta Materials by 18.5% during the 3rd quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 8,220 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $4,914,000 after purchasing an additional 1,286 shares during the last quarter. RMR Wealth Builders lifted its position in shares of Martin Marietta Materials by 431.3% in the 4th quarter. RMR Wealth Builders now owns 2,391 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $1,235,000 after purchasing an additional 1,941 shares during the period. Benjamin Edwards Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Martin Marietta Materials by 2,448.1% in the 3rd quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. now owns 1,376 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $741,000 after purchasing an additional 1,322 shares during the last quarter. Finally, InTrack Investment Management Inc increased its position in shares of Martin Marietta Materials by 33.9% during the fourth quarter. InTrack Investment Management Inc now owns 3,446 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $1,784,000 after buying an additional 872 shares during the period. 95.04% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on MLM. Stephens dropped their price objective on Martin Marietta Materials from $675.00 to $650.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Citigroup cut their target price on shares of Martin Marietta Materials from $701.00 to $600.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, January 6th. StockNews.com cut shares of Martin Marietta Materials from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 20th. Raymond James decreased their target price on Martin Marietta Materials from $630.00 to $600.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, Barclays decreased their price objective on Martin Marietta Materials from $645.00 to $600.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 13th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating, thirteen have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $628.64.

Martin Marietta Materials Trading Down 1.3 %

Shares of Martin Marietta Materials stock opened at $477.92 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $29.14 billion, a PE ratio of 14.78, a P/E/G 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 company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56, a current ratio of 2.50 and a quick ratio of 1.40. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $507.03 and a 200-day moving average price of $538.34.

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

Martin Marietta Materials Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Monday, March 3rd will be paid a $0.79 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 3rd. This represents a $3.16 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.66%. Martin Marietta Materials’s payout ratio is 9.77%.

Insider Activity at Martin Marietta Materials

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

Martin Marietta Materials 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.