Hillsdale Investment Management Inc. Purchases Shares of 3,380 Marriott International, Inc. (NASDAQ:MAR)

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Hillsdale Investment Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Marriott International, Inc. (NASDAQ:MAR – Get Rating) in the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor purchased 3,380 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $473,000.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of MAR. Vigilant Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Marriott International by 72.2% in the third quarter. Vigilant Capital Management LLC now owns 186 shares of the company’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 78 shares during the period. Desjardins Global Asset Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Marriott International in the second quarter valued at about $27,000. Old North State Trust LLC bought a new stake in shares of Marriott International in the third quarter valued at about $27,000. Fieldpoint Private Securities LLC lifted its stake in Marriott International by 240.0% during the second quarter. Fieldpoint Private Securities LLC now owns 238 shares of the company’s stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 168 shares during the period. Finally, Crewe Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Marriott International by 39.1% during the second quarter. Crewe Advisors LLC now owns 267 shares of the company’s stock worth $36,000 after purchasing an additional 75 shares during the period. 58.97% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MAR has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. BMO Capital Markets cut their price target on shares of Marriott International from $165.00 to $160.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, November 4th. Citigroup cut shares of Marriott International from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $170.00 to $175.00 in a research note on Wednesday, December 14th. Redburn Partners assumed coverage on shares of Marriott International in a research note on Wednesday, November 30th. They set a “sell” rating for the company. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of Marriott International from $190.00 to $193.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 18th. Finally, Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Marriott International from $170.00 to $173.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, January 20th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Marriott International presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $174.07.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Marriott International news, Director Eric Hippeau sold 7,200 shares of Marriott International stock in a transaction on Monday, November 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $160.24, for a total transaction of $1,153,728.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 7,261 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,163,502.64. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 12.21% of the company’s stock.

Marriott International Stock Performance

Shares of Marriott International stock opened at $181.27 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.33, a current ratio of 0.52 and a quick ratio of 0.52. The firm has a market cap of $57.38 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.63, a P/E/G ratio of 0.61 and a beta of 1.58. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $161.19 and a 200 day simple moving average of $157.18. Marriott International, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $131.01 and a fifty-two week high of $195.90.

Marriott International (NASDAQ:MAR – Get Rating) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 14th. The company reported $1.96 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.84 by $0.12. Marriott International had a net margin of 11.16% and a return on equity of 132.01%. The business had revenue of $5.92 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.38 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.30 earnings per share. Marriott International’s revenue for the quarter was up 33.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts predict that Marriott International, Inc. will post 6.58 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Marriott International Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 24th will be issued a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.88%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 23rd. This is a positive change from Marriott International’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.30. Marriott International’s payout ratio is currently 24.39%.

Marriott International declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a share repurchase program on Thursday, November 10th that permits the company to buyback 25,000,000 outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the company to repurchase shares of its stock through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are usually an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Marriott International Company Profile

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Marriott International, Inc engages in the operation and franchise of hotel, residential, and timeshare properties. It operates through the following geography segments: U.S. & Canada, Asia Pacific, and Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA). The company was founded by J. Willard Marriott and Alice Sheets Marriott in 1927 and is headquartered in Bethesda, MD.