LPL Financial LLC Purchases 5,430 Shares of Vail Resorts, Inc. (NYSE:MTN)

LPL Financial LLC boosted its holdings in Vail Resorts, Inc. (NYSE:MTN - Free Report) by 41.5% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 18,510 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 5,430 shares during the period. LPL Financial LLC's holdings in Vail Resorts were worth $3,470,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the business. Captrust Financial Advisors increased its stake in Vail Resorts by 13.8% during the third quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 2,363 shares of the company's stock valued at $412,000 after acquiring an additional 286 shares during the period. Stifel Financial Corp grew its stake in shares of Vail Resorts by 47.6% in the 3rd quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 21,131 shares of the company's stock valued at $3,683,000 after purchasing an additional 6,816 shares during the period. MML Investors Services LLC raised its stake in Vail Resorts by 7.1% during the third quarter. MML Investors Services LLC now owns 7,847 shares of the company's stock worth $1,368,000 after acquiring an additional 521 shares in the last quarter. M&T Bank Corp increased its position in shares of Vail Resorts by 6.9% during the 3rd quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 1,986 shares of the company's stock worth $346,000 after purchasing an additional 129 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Vail Resorts by 1.3% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 649,624 shares of the company's stock valued at $113,252,000 after acquiring an additional 8,422 shares during the last quarter. 94.94% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have commented on MTN shares. Mizuho decreased their price objective on shares of Vail Resorts from $227.00 to $215.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, March 11th. Barclays restated an "underweight" rating and set a $152.00 price objective (down previously from $165.00) on shares of Vail Resorts in a report on Monday, March 10th. Macquarie reduced their target price on Vail Resorts from $195.00 to $185.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, March 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on Vail Resorts from $166.00 to $167.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 11th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on Vail Resorts from $197.00 to $178.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, March 11th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $193.56.

Vail Resorts Stock Down 0.1 %

MTN stock traded down $0.12 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $137.46. The company had a trading volume of 59,604 shares, compared to its average volume of 579,996. Vail Resorts, Inc. has a 52 week low of $129.85 and a 52 week high of $225.45. The company has a market capitalization of $5.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.84, a PEG ratio of 1.93 and a beta of 0.93. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.64, a current ratio of 0.63 and a quick ratio of 0.51. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $155.88 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $170.29.

Vail Resorts (NYSE:MTN - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, March 10th. The company reported $6.56 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $6.29 by $0.27. The firm had revenue of $1.14 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.14 billion. Vail Resorts had a net margin of 8.07% and a return on equity of 21.90%. The company's quarterly revenue was up 5.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $5.76 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts predict that Vail Resorts, Inc. will post 7.62 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Vail Resorts Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 10th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 27th were paid a dividend of $2.22 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 27th. This represents a $8.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.46%. Vail Resorts's dividend payout ratio is currently 130.21%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CFO Angela A. Korch acquired 185 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 13th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $160.00 per share, for a total transaction of $29,600.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chief financial officer now directly owns 2,956 shares in the company, valued at approximately $472,960. This trade represents a 6.68 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. 1.20% of the stock is owned by insiders.

About Vail Resorts

Vail Resorts, Inc, through its subsidiaries, operates mountain resorts and regional ski areas in the United States. It operates through three segments: Mountain, Lodging, and Real Estate. The Mountain segment operates 41 destination mountain resorts and regional ski areas. This segment is also involved in the ancillary activities, including ski school, dining, and retail/rental operations, as well as real estate brokerage activities.