Principal Financial Group Inc. Lowers Holdings in Marriott Vacations Worldwide Corporation $VAC

Principal Financial Group Inc. lowered its holdings in shares of Marriott Vacations Worldwide Corporation (NYSE:VAC) by 14.5% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 62,446 shares of the company’s stock after selling 10,600 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Marriott Vacations Worldwide were worth $4,156,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Senvest Management LLC lifted its holdings in Marriott Vacations Worldwide by 19.4% in the 2nd quarter. Senvest Management LLC now owns 1,816,012 shares of the company’s stock worth $131,316,000 after purchasing an additional 294,937 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Marriott Vacations Worldwide by 37.4% in the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 788,879 shares of the company’s stock worth $57,051,000 after buying an additional 214,629 shares in the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership boosted its position in shares of Marriott Vacations Worldwide by 71.6% during the second quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 635,977 shares of the company’s stock worth $45,987,000 after acquiring an additional 265,278 shares during the last quarter. Deprince Race & Zollo Inc. boosted its position in shares of Marriott Vacations Worldwide by 34.6% during the third quarter. Deprince Race & Zollo Inc. now owns 429,639 shares of the company’s stock worth $28,597,000 after acquiring an additional 110,469 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new position in Marriott Vacations Worldwide during the second quarter valued at $27,971,000. Institutional investors own 89.52% of the company’s stock.

Marriott Vacations Worldwide Trading Up 1.2%

Shares of NYSE VAC opened at $53.97 on Monday. Marriott Vacations Worldwide Corporation has a 1-year low of $44.58 and a 1-year high of $91.18. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.29, a current ratio of 3.87 and a quick ratio of 3.22. The business’s 50 day moving average is $57.80 and its two-hundred day moving average is $63.82. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.87 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.10, a PEG ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.33.

Marriott Vacations Worldwide Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 7th. Investors of record on Wednesday, December 24th were issued a dividend of $0.80 per share. This represents a $3.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.9%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, December 24th. This is a boost from Marriott Vacations Worldwide’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.79. Marriott Vacations Worldwide’s payout ratio is currently 71.75%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director William W. Mccarten purchased 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 20th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $48.08 per share, for a total transaction of $240,400.00. Following the acquisition, the director owned 13,708 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $659,080.64. This trade represents a 57.42% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director Lizanne Galbreath acquired 5,500 shares of Marriott Vacations Worldwide stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 18th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $46.51 per share, for a total transaction of $255,805.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 25,714 shares in the company, valued at $1,195,958.14. This trade represents a 27.21% increase in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this purchase are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders purchased 96,209 shares of company stock valued at $4,573,353 over the last 90 days. 1.60% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have commented on the stock. Citizens Jmp dropped their price objective on shares of Marriott Vacations Worldwide from $115.00 to $60.00 and set a “market outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, November 7th. Mizuho downgraded Marriott Vacations Worldwide from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their target price for the stock from $85.00 to $58.00 in a research report on Tuesday, November 11th. Zacks Research lowered Marriott Vacations Worldwide from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 20th. Wells Fargo & Company assumed coverage on Marriott Vacations Worldwide in a research note on Tuesday, November 18th. They issued an “underweight” rating and a $37.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus set a $83.00 target price on Marriott Vacations Worldwide in a research report on Thursday, November 6th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has given a Hold rating and five have given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and a consensus target price of $61.13.

Marriott Vacations Worldwide Company Profile

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.