William Blair Investment Management LLC Invests $104.90 Million in Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. $MLM

William Blair Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. (NYSE:MLM) in the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 181,902 shares of the construction company’s stock, valued at approximately $104,903,000. William Blair Investment Management LLC owned approximately 0.30% of Martin Marietta Materials as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. CoreCap Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Martin Marietta Materials by 370.0% during the 2nd quarter. CoreCap Advisors LLC now owns 47 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $27,000 after acquiring an additional 37 shares in the last quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Martin Marietta Materials by 67.9% in the first quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. now owns 47 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 19 shares during the period. Garton & Associates Financial Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Martin Marietta Materials during the fourth quarter valued at $31,000. Reflection Asset Management bought a new stake in Martin Marietta Materials during the fourth quarter valued at $35,000. Finally, Osterweis Capital Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Martin Marietta Materials during the second quarter worth $37,000. 95.04% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently commented on MLM shares. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of Martin Marietta Materials from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a report on Monday. Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on shares of Martin Marietta Materials from $664.00 to $639.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, August 13th. Truist Financial raised their target price on shares of Martin Marietta Materials from $710.00 to $730.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, May 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on Martin Marietta Materials from $700.00 to $680.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, July 31st. Finally, Berenberg Bank set a $556.00 target price on Martin Marietta Materials and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 2nd. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $668.53.

Martin Marietta Materials Trading Up 1.9%

Martin Marietta Materials stock opened at $535.28 on Friday. Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. has a 52-week low of $522.19 and a 52-week high of $710.97. The company has a quick ratio of 0.73, a current ratio of 1.41 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.44. The firm has a market capitalization of $32.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.15, a PEG ratio of 2.27 and a beta of 1.11. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $569.66 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $596.04.

Martin Marietta Materials (NYSE:MLM) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 30th. The construction company reported $5.00 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.76 by $0.24. The company had revenue of $1.95 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.87 billion. Martin Marietta Materials had a net margin of 36.73% and a return on equity of 9.49%. Martin Marietta Materials’s revenue was up 21.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $5.43 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. will post 19.07 earnings per share for the current year.

Martin Marietta Materials Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 30th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 1st will be paid a dividend of $0.84 per share. This represents a $3.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 1st. This is an increase from Martin Marietta Materials’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.83. Martin Marietta Materials’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 8.16%.

Martin Marietta Materials Profile

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.