Marriott assesses the appointment of investor Jonathan Litt to the board of directors

Justin Sullivan | Getty Images News | Getty Images

San Francisco, CA – November 16: A sign is posted in front of a Marriott hotel on November 16, 2015 in San Francisco, California. Marriott International has announced plans to acquire Starwood Hotels & Resorts for $ 12.2 billion. This agreement would create the largest hotel company in the world. (Photo by Justin Sullivan / Getty Images)

Marriott International announced Friday that it was badessing the appointment of activist investor Jonathan Litt for a seat on the board of directors of the hotel chain.

Litt is the founder of the Land & Buildings Investment Management hedge fund, which held a 0.03% stake in Marriott on December 31st.

In recent weeks, Land & Buildings has asked Marriott to consider removing its 30 brands to better align with competitors such as Hilton Worldwide Holdings, the Wall Street Journal reported on Friday.

The spokesman for Land & Buildings declined to comment.

Shares of Marriott, which owns luxury hotel brands Ritz-Carlton and St. Regis, climbed 4.36% to $ 124.83 on Friday, and 1.8% to $ 121.79 on morning.

Until Thursday 's close, Marriott shares had risen by about 121% over the past five years, outperforming an increase of about 82% in rival Hilton' s shares. and a surge of 51% in the S & P 500 index.

Earlier this month, Marriott CEO Arne Sorenson apologized to a US Senate panel for a mbadive data breach involving up to 383 million customers in its reservation system. Starwood hotels and was committed to protecting against future attacks.