Marriott Vacations Worldwide (NYSE:VAC) Trading Up 6% - Should You Buy?

Key Points

• Marriott Vacations Worldwide shares rose 6% to roughly $105, although trading volume was 83% below the average. The stock has a $3.67 billion market capitalization and trades near its 50-day moving average.
• Analyst sentiment remains mixed: the consensus rating is “Hold” with a $101.45 price target, despite several “Buy” ratings and targets as high as $134.
• The company exceeded quarterly earnings and revenue expectations, reporting $2.31 in EPS and $1.32 billion in revenue, while announcing a quarterly dividend of $0.80 per share. Insiders recently sold shares, including a director’s $83.6 million transaction.

Marriott Vacations Worldwide Corporation (NYSE:VAC - Get Free Report) traded up 6% during trading on Friday . The stock traded as high as $104.89 and last traded at $105.1730. Approximately 90,700 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 83% from the average daily volume of 543,009 shares. The stock had previously closed at $99.21.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently weighed in on VAC. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of Marriott Vacations Worldwide from $68.00 to $101.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a research note on Friday, August 7th. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a "buy" rating and issued a $132.00 target price on shares of Marriott Vacations Worldwide in a research note on Friday, August 7th. Weiss Ratings raised Marriott Vacations Worldwide from a "sell (d)" rating to a "sell (d+)" rating in a report on Friday, August 7th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reiterated a "buy" rating and set a $134.00 price target on shares of Marriott Vacations Worldwide in a research report on Wednesday, August 12th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised Marriott Vacations Worldwide from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Saturday, August 15th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have issued a Buy rating, two have given a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $101.45.

Marriott Vacations Worldwide Stock Performance

The stock has a market capitalization of $3.67 billion, a PE ratio of -10.93, a P/E/G ratio of 1.91 and a beta of 1.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.65, a quick ratio of 2.99 and a current ratio of 3.56. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $105.00 and a 200-day moving average of $85.22.

Marriott Vacations Worldwide (NYSE:VAC - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, August 6th. The company reported $2.31 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.97 by $0.34. The company had revenue of $1.32 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.30 billion. Marriott Vacations Worldwide had a negative net margin of 6.47% and a positive return on equity of 12.27%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 5.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.96 earnings per share. Marriott Vacations Worldwide has set its FY 2026 guidance at 8.250-9.050 EPS. Research analysts forecast that Marriott Vacations Worldwide Corporation will post 8.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Marriott Vacations Worldwide Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 30th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, September 16th will be given a dividend of $0.80 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, September 16th. This represents a $3.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.0%. Marriott Vacations Worldwide's payout ratio is currently -32.85%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Christian Asmar sold 750,000 shares of Marriott Vacations Worldwide stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $111.49, for a total value of $83,617,500.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 3,380,818 shares in the company, valued at approximately $376,927,398.82. The trade was a 18.16% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Kathleen A. Pighini sold 2,500 shares of Marriott Vacations Worldwide stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $120.00, for a total value of $300,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 10,821 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,298,520. This represents a 18.77% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Company insiders own 13.30% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in VAC. LSV Asset Management lifted its holdings in Marriott Vacations Worldwide by 7.9% during the 4th quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 204,657 shares of the company's stock valued at $11,807,000 after purchasing an additional 15,025 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Marriott Vacations Worldwide by 7.4% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 3,392,787 shares of the company's stock worth $195,730,000 after acquiring an additional 234,105 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp bought a new stake in Marriott Vacations Worldwide during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $17,975,000. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund bought a new stake in Marriott Vacations Worldwide during the 1st quarter worth approximately $868,000. Finally, Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio increased its holdings in Marriott Vacations Worldwide by 51.2% during the 1st quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio now owns 65,679 shares of the company's stock valued at $4,277,000 after purchasing an additional 22,236 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 89.52% of the company's stock.

About Marriott Vacations Worldwide

Marriott Vacations Worldwide Corporation, headquartered in Orlando, Florida, specializes in the development, marketing and management of vacation ownership resorts and related products. Originally launched as a division of Marriott International in 1984, the company became a separate publicly traded entity in 2011. Since then, it has expanded its offerings through both organic growth and strategic acquisitions, establishing itself as a leading provider in the global timeshare industry.

The company's core business activities include selling vacation ownership interests, managing a growing portfolio of branded resorts and operating a loyalty program that allows members to exchange or use points at affiliated properties.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.

Continue following MarketBeat

Add MarketBeat as your preferred source on Google to see our latest stories in your feed.

Add As Preferred Source