Susquehanna Portfolio Strategies LLC Cuts Stock Holdings in Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. (NYSE:MLM)

Susquehanna Portfolio Strategies LLC reduced its position in shares of Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. (NYSE:MLM) by 12.4% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 19,505 shares of the construction company’s stock after selling 2,759 shares during the period. Susquehanna Portfolio Strategies LLC’s holdings in Martin Marietta Materials were worth $10,568,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Global Assets Advisory LLC acquired a new position in shares of Martin Marietta Materials during the 1st quarter worth approximately $22,265,000. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in Martin Marietta Materials by 25.3% in the fourth quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 8,562 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $4,272,000 after acquiring an additional 1,728 shares during the last quarter. Brevan Howard Capital Management LP lifted its holdings in Martin Marietta Materials by 49.7% in the fourth quarter. Brevan Howard Capital Management LP now owns 5,672 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $2,830,000 after acquiring an additional 1,882 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Martin Marietta Materials by 1.0% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 7,170,166 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $3,577,268,000 after acquiring an additional 69,701 shares during the last quarter. Finally, BNP Paribas Financial Markets lifted its holdings in Martin Marietta Materials by 182.5% in the first quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 73,135 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $44,901,000 after acquiring an additional 47,250 shares during the last quarter. 95.04% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Martin Marietta Materials Price Performance

Shares of MLM opened at $539.19 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45, a quick ratio of 0.94 and a current ratio of 1.86. The company has a market capitalization of $33.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.98, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.78 and a beta of 0.91. Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $389.90 and a fifty-two week high of $626.67. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $538.74 and a 200-day simple moving average of $565.39.

Martin Marietta Materials (NYSE:MLM) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 8th. The construction company reported $4.76 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.36 by ($0.60). The firm had revenue of $1.76 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.83 billion. Martin Marietta Materials had a net margin of 30.80% and a return on equity of 13.85%. Martin Marietta Materials’s revenue for the quarter was down 3.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $5.60 EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. will post 19.33 earnings per share for the current year.

Martin Marietta Materials Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 30th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 3rd will be given a $0.79 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 3rd. This represents a $3.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.59%. This is an increase from Martin Marietta Materials’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.74. Martin Marietta Materials’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 9.36%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on MLM shares. StockNews.com lowered Martin Marietta Materials from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Stifel Nicolaus cut their price objective on Martin Marietta Materials from $650.00 to $630.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, July 3rd. Jefferies Financial Group increased their target price on Martin Marietta Materials from $660.00 to $665.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 17th. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on Martin Marietta Materials from $610.00 to $657.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, August 26th. Finally, Stephens dropped their target price on Martin Marietta Materials from $650.00 to $610.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, August 9th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Martin Marietta Materials currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $629.82.

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.