Marriott Vacations Worldwide (NYSE:VAC) Shares Gap Up on Insider Buying Activity

Shares of Marriott Vacations Worldwide Co. (NYSE:VAC) gapped up before the market opened on Thursday following insider buying activity. The stock had previously closed at $69.21, but opened at $71.23. Marriott Vacations Worldwide shares last traded at $70.08, with a volume of 18,626 shares.

Specifically, insider Jason P. Marino purchased 700 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 11th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $69.00 per share, for a total transaction of $48,300.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the insider now owns 15,851 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,093,719. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently issued reports on VAC. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut their price objective on shares of Marriott Vacations Worldwide from $121.00 to $95.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, August 6th. StockNews.com downgraded Marriott Vacations Worldwide from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Friday, July 19th. JMP Securities lowered their price target on Marriott Vacations Worldwide from $115.00 to $90.00 and set a “market outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Truist Financial cut their price objective on Marriott Vacations Worldwide from $161.00 to $159.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, July 19th. Finally, Barclays decreased their target price on Marriott Vacations Worldwide from $106.00 to $82.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $102.67.

Marriott Vacations Worldwide Stock Performance

The company has a quick ratio of 2.72, a current ratio of 3.28 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.21. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $77.50 and a two-hundred day moving average of $88.92. The company has a market capitalization of $2.51 billion, a PE ratio of 13.20, a PEG ratio of 0.66 and a beta of 1.81.

Marriott Vacations Worldwide (NYSE:VAC) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The company reported $1.10 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.99 by ($0.89). The firm had revenue of $1.14 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.21 billion. Marriott Vacations Worldwide had a net margin of 3.41% and a return on equity of 9.89%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 3.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.19 earnings per share. Research analysts anticipate that Marriott Vacations Worldwide Co. will post 6.12 EPS for the current year.

Marriott Vacations Worldwide Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 3rd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, September 19th will be given a dividend of $0.76 per share. This represents a $3.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.26%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, September 19th. Marriott Vacations Worldwide’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 56.19%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Marriott Vacations Worldwide

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of VAC. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in Marriott Vacations Worldwide by 4.6% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 3,266,238 shares of the company’s stock valued at $351,872,000 after purchasing an additional 143,074 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its holdings in Marriott Vacations Worldwide by 14.9% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,599,789 shares of the company’s stock worth $139,687,000 after acquiring an additional 207,938 shares in the last quarter. Impactive Capital LP acquired a new position in Marriott Vacations Worldwide during the first quarter worth $123,613,000. Burgundy Asset Management Ltd. lifted its holdings in Marriott Vacations Worldwide by 3.0% during the first quarter. Burgundy Asset Management Ltd. now owns 1,096,286 shares of the company’s stock valued at $118,103,000 after purchasing an additional 32,218 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Victory Capital Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Marriott Vacations Worldwide by 20.3% during the second quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 763,835 shares of the company’s stock valued at $66,698,000 after purchasing an additional 129,131 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.52% of the company’s stock.

Marriott Vacations Worldwide Company Profile

Marriott Vacations Worldwide Corporation, a vacation company, develops, markets, sells, and manages vacation ownership and related businesses, products, and services in the United States and internationally. It operates through two segments, Vacation Ownership and Exchange & Third-Party Management.