Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. Purchases Shares of 63,808 Las Vegas Sands Corp. (NYSE:LVS)

Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. acquired a new position in shares of Las Vegas Sands Corp. (NYSE:LVS - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund acquired 63,808 shares of the casino operator's stock, valued at approximately $3,277,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in LVS. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB purchased a new stake in shares of Las Vegas Sands in the third quarter valued at about $26,000. Bank of Jackson Hole Trust purchased a new position in Las Vegas Sands in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $26,000. UMB Bank n.a. increased its holdings in Las Vegas Sands by 73.5% during the 4th quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 583 shares of the casino operator's stock valued at $30,000 after acquiring an additional 247 shares in the last quarter. Optiver Holding B.V. acquired a new stake in shares of Las Vegas Sands during the 4th quarter worth about $32,000. Finally, Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. acquired a new position in shares of Las Vegas Sands during the 4th quarter valued at $36,000. 39.16% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have commented on LVS shares. Barclays reduced their price objective on shares of Las Vegas Sands from $58.00 to $53.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut their price objective on shares of Las Vegas Sands from $66.00 to $62.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on shares of Las Vegas Sands from $60.00 to $59.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Citigroup boosted their price objective on shares of Las Vegas Sands from $64.50 to $67.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Hsbc Global Res upgraded shares of Las Vegas Sands to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Thursday, April 24th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Las Vegas Sands has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $56.75.

Las Vegas Sands Stock Up 1.9 %

Shares of LVS stock traded up $0.74 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $38.80. 3,340,019 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 6,054,736. The business has a 50 day moving average of $38.39 and a two-hundred day moving average of $45.20. The company has a market capitalization of $27.41 billion, a PE ratio of 19.65, a PEG ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 0.99. The company has a current ratio of 0.74, a quick ratio of 0.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.35. Las Vegas Sands Corp. has a 52 week low of $30.18 and a 52 week high of $56.61.

Las Vegas Sands (NYSE:LVS - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 23rd. The casino operator reported $0.59 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.60 by ($0.01). Las Vegas Sands had a return on equity of 45.82% and a net margin of 12.80%. The business had revenue of $2.86 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.95 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.78 earnings per share. Las Vegas Sands's revenue was down 3.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts anticipate that Las Vegas Sands Corp. will post 2.6 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Las Vegas Sands Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 14th. Investors of record on Tuesday, May 6th will be given a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.58%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, May 6th. Las Vegas Sands's dividend payout ratio is 55.56%.

Las Vegas Sands declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase plan on Wednesday, April 23rd that allows the company to repurchase $2.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the casino operator to buy up to 8.2% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are generally an indication that the company's board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

About Las Vegas Sands

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.