Las Vegas Sands Corp. (NYSE:LVS) Shares Purchased by Savant Capital LLC

Savant Capital LLC grew its position in Las Vegas Sands Corp. (NYSE:LVS) by 5.4% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 18,404 shares of the casino operator’s stock after buying an additional 941 shares during the quarter. Savant Capital LLC’s holdings in Las Vegas Sands were worth $945,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. purchased a new position in Las Vegas Sands during the 4th quarter valued at about $124,000. Empowered Funds LLC raised its position in shares of Las Vegas Sands by 9.1% during the 4th quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 6,600 shares of the casino operator’s stock worth $339,000 after purchasing an additional 550 shares during the last quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB lifted its stake in Las Vegas Sands by 45.6% in the 4th quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB now owns 760 shares of the casino operator’s stock valued at $39,000 after buying an additional 238 shares in the last quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Las Vegas Sands during the 4th quarter valued at $91,000. Finally, Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd grew its holdings in Las Vegas Sands by 19.9% during the 4th quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd now owns 50,087 shares of the casino operator’s stock valued at $2,572,000 after buying an additional 8,326 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 39.16% of the company’s stock.

Las Vegas Sands Trading Up 2.8 %

NYSE LVS opened at $43.38 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.09, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a current ratio of 0.90. Las Vegas Sands Corp. has a one year low of $36.62 and a one year high of $56.60. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $48.01 and its 200 day moving average price is $46.85. The firm has a market capitalization of $31.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.02, a PEG ratio of 1.32 and a beta of 1.08.

Las Vegas Sands (NYSE:LVS) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The casino operator reported $0.54 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.58 by ($0.04). Las Vegas Sands had a net margin of 12.80% and a return on equity of 43.76%. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Las Vegas Sands Corp. will post 2.63 EPS for the current year.

Las Vegas Sands Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, February 19th. Investors of record on Monday, February 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.25 per share. This is an increase from Las Vegas Sands’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.31%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, February 10th. Las Vegas Sands’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 40.61%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on Las Vegas Sands from $60.00 to $59.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Las Vegas Sands from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $60.00 to $69.00 in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on shares of Las Vegas Sands from $62.00 to $61.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. UBS Group raised their target price on shares of Las Vegas Sands from $49.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. Finally, Citigroup increased their price target on Las Vegas Sands from $64.50 to $67.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Las Vegas Sands currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $59.58.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Robert G. Goldstein sold 60,187 shares of Las Vegas Sands stock in a transaction on Friday, November 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $53.02, for a total transaction of $3,191,114.74. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 0.91% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Las Vegas Sands Company Profile

Las Vegas Sands Corp., together with its subsidiaries, develops, owns, and operates integrated resorts in Macao and Singapore. It owns and operates The Venetian Macao Resort Hotel, the Londoner Macao, The Parisian Macao, The Plaza Macao and Four Seasons Hotel Macao, Cotai Strip, and the Sands Macao in Macao, the People’s Republic of China; and Marina Bay Sands in Singapore.