Marriott Vacations Worldwide Corporation (NYSE:VAC) Sees Significant Increase in Short Interest

Marriott Vacations Worldwide Corporation (NYSE:VAC) saw a large increase in short interest in the month of March. As of March 13th, there was short interest totaling 2,996,566 shares, an increase of 18.8% from the February 26th total of 2,522,196 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 738,235 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 4.1 days. Currently, 8.9% of the shares of the company are short sold.

Insider Buying and Selling at Marriott Vacations Worldwide

In other news, insider Michael Flaskey acquired 14,862 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 10th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $67.26 per share, for a total transaction of $999,618.12. Following the purchase, the insider directly owned 14,862 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $999,618.12. This trade represents a ∞ increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In the last quarter, insiders have bought 14,971 shares of company stock worth $1,006,280. 1.60% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Marriott Vacations Worldwide

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. grew its position in shares of Marriott Vacations Worldwide by 51.1% during the 4th quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. now owns 1,085 shares of the company’s stock worth $63,000 after purchasing an additional 367 shares in the last quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Marriott Vacations Worldwide in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $964,000. Invesco Ltd. raised its position in shares of Marriott Vacations Worldwide by 55.8% in the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 298,015 shares of the company’s stock valued at $17,192,000 after buying an additional 106,702 shares in the last quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV boosted its stake in shares of Marriott Vacations Worldwide by 78.3% in the fourth quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV now owns 6,072 shares of the company’s stock valued at $350,000 after buying an additional 2,667 shares during the period. Finally, Bridgeway Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Marriott Vacations Worldwide by 21.3% in the fourth quarter. Bridgeway Capital Management LLC now owns 212,192 shares of the company’s stock valued at $12,241,000 after buying an additional 37,293 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.52% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

VAC has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Weiss Ratings downgraded Marriott Vacations Worldwide from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “sell (d)” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 17th. Jefferies Financial Group raised Marriott Vacations Worldwide from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $52.00 to $105.00 in a research report on Monday, March 2nd. Mizuho upgraded Marriott Vacations Worldwide from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $58.00 to $104.00 in a research note on Thursday, March 5th. Zacks Research raised Marriott Vacations Worldwide from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 18th. Finally, Morgan Stanley restated an “underweight” rating and issued a $52.00 price target (down from $70.00) on shares of Marriott Vacations Worldwide in a research note on Friday, January 16th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have issued a Hold rating and four have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $73.67.

Marriott Vacations Worldwide Stock Performance

NYSE:VAC traded up $0.44 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $65.16. 695,677 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 638,056. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -7.03, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.65 and a beta of 1.24. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $61.86 and its 200 day simple moving average is $61.46. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.85, a quick ratio of 2.94 and a current ratio of 3.48. Marriott Vacations Worldwide has a fifty-two week low of $44.58 and a fifty-two week high of $86.33.

Marriott Vacations Worldwide (NYSE:VAC) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 25th. The company reported $1.86 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.72 by $0.14. The firm had revenue of $1.32 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.30 billion. Marriott Vacations Worldwide had a positive return on equity of 11.77% and a negative net margin of 6.12%.The company’s revenue for the quarter was down .3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.86 EPS. Marriott Vacations Worldwide has set its FY 2026 guidance at 7.050-7.800 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Marriott Vacations Worldwide will post 6.23 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Marriott Vacations Worldwide Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 18th. Investors of record on Wednesday, March 4th were paid a $0.80 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 4th. This represents a $3.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.9%. Marriott Vacations Worldwide’s dividend payout ratio is -34.52%.

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.