Worthington Financial Partners LLC Makes New $655,000 Investment in Marriott International, Inc. $MAR

Worthington Financial Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Marriott International, Inc. (NASDAQ:MAR) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor acquired 2,113 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $655,000.

A number of other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Legal & General Group Plc grew its holdings in Marriott International by 9.3% in the 3rd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 1,465,420 shares of the company’s stock worth $381,654,000 after acquiring an additional 124,759 shares during the last quarter. Lansforsakringar Fondforvaltning AB publ lifted its stake in Marriott International by 5.8% in the third quarter. Lansforsakringar Fondforvaltning AB publ now owns 73,759 shares of the company’s stock worth $19,210,000 after acquiring an additional 4,067 shares during the period. FMB Wealth Management bought a new stake in Marriott International in the fourth quarter valued at $1,762,000. Natixis Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Marriott International by 12.0% in the 3rd quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 386,638 shares of the company’s stock worth $100,696,000 after purchasing an additional 41,547 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Capital International Sarl lifted its position in shares of Marriott International by 25.8% in the 3rd quarter. Capital International Sarl now owns 41,237 shares of the company’s stock worth $10,740,000 after purchasing an additional 8,448 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.70% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Marriott International news, EVP Peggy Roe sold 3,000 shares of Marriott International stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $361.56, for a total value of $1,084,680.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 19,827 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,168,650.12. The trade was a 13.14% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Corporate insiders own 11.43% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on MAR shares. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of Marriott International to $446.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 7th. Sanford C. Bernstein set a $412.00 price objective on Marriott International in a research report on Monday. Mizuho upped their target price on Marriott International from $343.00 to $384.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, May 7th. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on Marriott International from $350.00 to $353.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 12th. Finally, UBS Group upped their price target on Marriott International from $336.00 to $412.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, June 15th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $384.73.

Marriott International Price Performance

MAR stock opened at $396.20 on Friday. The business has a 50 day moving average of $371.76 and a 200 day moving average of $340.33. The firm has a market cap of $104.47 billion, a PE ratio of 41.57, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.15 and a beta of 1.10. Marriott International, Inc. has a twelve month low of $253.76 and a twelve month high of $410.98.

Marriott International (NASDAQ:MAR) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, May 6th. The company reported $2.72 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.56 by $0.16. Marriott International had a negative return on equity of 80.97% and a net margin of 9.72%.The business had revenue of $1.81 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.59 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.32 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Marriott International has set its FY 2026 guidance at 11.380-11.630 EPS and its Q2 2026 guidance at 2.990-3.060 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that Marriott International, Inc. will post 11.64 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Marriott International Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 30th. Investors of record on Friday, May 22nd will be given a dividend of $0.73 per share. This is a positive change from Marriott International’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 22nd. This represents a $2.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.7%. Marriott International’s payout ratio is currently 30.64%.

About Marriott International

Marriott International is a global lodging company that develops, manages and franchises a broad portfolio of hotels and related lodging facilities. Its core activities include hotel and resort management, franchise operations, property development and the provision of centralized services such as reservations, marketing and loyalty program management. The company’s brand architecture spans market segments from luxury and premium to select-service and extended-stay, enabling it to serve a wide range of business and leisure travelers as well as corporate and group customers.

The company traces its roots to the hospitality business founded by J.