Marriott Vacations Worldwide Corp (VAC) Upgraded by Zacks Investment Research to Buy

Zacks Investment Research upgraded shares of Marriott Vacations Worldwide Corp (NYSE:VAC) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research note published on Wednesday morning. The brokerage currently has $129.00 price objective on the stock.

According to Zacks, “Marriott Vacations Worldwide Corporation is a developer, marketer, seller and manager of vacation ownership resorts and vacation club, destination club and exchange programs, principally under the Marriott and Ritz-Carlton brands and trademarks. The Company generates most of its revenues from four primary sources: selling vacation ownership products, managing our resorts, financing consumer purchases of vacation ownership products and renting vacation ownership inventory. “

Several other analysts have also weighed in on VAC. Telsey Advisory Group lowered their price objective on Marriott Vacations Worldwide Corp from $113.00 to $96.00 and set a market perform rating for the company in a report on Friday, May 5th. Deutsche Bank AG boosted their price objective on Marriott Vacations Worldwide Corp from $80.00 to $92.00 and gave the company a hold rating in a report on Monday. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on Marriott Vacations Worldwide Corp to $102.00 in a report on Friday, February 24th. Janney Montgomery Scott began coverage on Marriott Vacations Worldwide Corp in a report on Thursday, April 20th. They issued a buy rating and a $119.00 price objective for the company. Finally, MKM Partners reissued a buy rating and issued a $115.00 price objective (up from $104.00) on shares of Marriott Vacations Worldwide Corp in a report on Tuesday, February 28th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Marriott Vacations Worldwide Corp has an average rating of Buy and an average target price of $106.43.

Marriott Vacations Worldwide Corp (NYSE:VAC) traded up 0.12% on Wednesday, hitting $113.72. The stock had a trading volume of 269,563 shares. The company’s 50-day moving average is $103.63 and its 200-day moving average is $88.49. The stock has a market cap of $3.09 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.69 and a beta of 1.25. Marriott Vacations Worldwide Corp has a one year low of $56.33 and a one year high of $124.94.

Marriott Vacations Worldwide Corp (NYSE:VAC) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 4th. The company reported $1.22 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the Thomson Reuters’ consensus estimate of $1.18 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $487.50 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $475.07 million. Marriott Vacations Worldwide Corp had a return on equity of 13.10% and a net margin of 6.68%. Marriott Vacations Worldwide Corp’s quarterly revenue was up 16.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.87 earnings per share. On average, analysts anticipate that Marriott Vacations Worldwide Corp will post $5.29 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

In other Marriott Vacations Worldwide Corp news, major shareholder J W. Marriott, Jr. sold 5,788 shares of Marriott Vacations Worldwide Corp stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $95.33, for a total value of $551,770.04. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 11,789 shares in the company, valued at $1,123,845.37. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, VP Michael E. Yonker sold 6,000 shares of Marriott Vacations Worldwide Corp stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $97.43, for a total value of $584,580.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 5,628 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $548,336.04. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 20,608 shares of company stock valued at $1,991,844. 2.70% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Marriott Vacations Worldwide Corp by 14.4% in the fourth quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 24,027 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,038,000 after buying an additional 3,026 shares in the last quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. acquired a new position in shares of Marriott Vacations Worldwide Corp during the fourth quarter valued at about $2,844,000. US Bancorp DE increased its position in shares of Marriott Vacations Worldwide Corp by 213.1% in the third quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 1,387 shares of the company’s stock valued at $102,000 after buying an additional 944 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its position in shares of Marriott Vacations Worldwide Corp by 4.6% in the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 536,735 shares of the company’s stock valued at $45,545,000 after buying an additional 23,674 shares in the last quarter. Finally, BlackRock Institutional Trust Company N.A. increased its position in shares of Marriott Vacations Worldwide Corp by 1.6% in the third quarter. BlackRock Institutional Trust Company N.A. now owns 603,366 shares of the company’s stock valued at $44,239,000 after buying an additional 9,251 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 75.49% of the company’s stock.

About Marriott Vacations Worldwide Corp

Marriott Vacations Worldwide Corporation focuses on vacation ownership, based on number of owners, number of resorts and revenues. The Company is an exclusive worldwide developer, marketer, seller and manager of vacation ownership and related products under the Marriott Vacation Club and Grand Residences by Marriott brands.