AQR Capital Management LLC Sells 196,973 Shares of Las Vegas Sands Corp. (NYSE:LVS)

AQR Capital Management LLC cut its position in shares of Las Vegas Sands Corp. (NYSE:LVS - Free Report) by 67.5% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 94,882 shares of the casino operator's stock after selling 196,973 shares during the quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC's holdings in Las Vegas Sands were worth $4,853,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Capital Research Global Investors increased its position in shares of Las Vegas Sands by 26.5% during the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 58,824,289 shares of the casino operator's stock valued at $3,021,205,000 after purchasing an additional 12,304,533 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Las Vegas Sands in the 4th quarter valued at $216,571,000. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC raised its stake in shares of Las Vegas Sands by 29.8% in the 4th quarter. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC now owns 9,382,267 shares of the casino operator's stock valued at $481,873,000 after buying an additional 2,152,829 shares in the last quarter. ARGA Investment Management LP lifted its holdings in shares of Las Vegas Sands by 32.0% during the 4th quarter. ARGA Investment Management LP now owns 6,501,382 shares of the casino operator's stock worth $333,911,000 after acquiring an additional 1,577,042 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its position in shares of Las Vegas Sands by 13.5% during the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 11,662,548 shares of the casino operator's stock valued at $598,988,000 after acquiring an additional 1,389,963 shares in the last quarter. 39.16% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

LVS has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Citigroup raised their price target on shares of Las Vegas Sands from $64.50 to $67.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Mizuho set a $47.00 price target on Las Vegas Sands in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on Las Vegas Sands from $47.00 to $45.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on shares of Las Vegas Sands from $62.00 to $61.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus set a $57.00 target price on shares of Las Vegas Sands and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $56.75.

Las Vegas Sands Trading Up 0.1 %

Shares of LVS traded up $0.04 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $39.80. 5,363,727 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 6,126,849. The business has a fifty day moving average of $37.97 and a 200-day moving average of $44.92. The company has a current ratio of 0.74, a quick ratio of 0.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.35. The firm has a market capitalization of $28.12 billion, a PE ratio of 20.20, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 0.99. Las Vegas Sands Corp. has a 1-year low of $30.18 and a 1-year 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 EPS 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 analyst estimates of $2.95 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.78 EPS. The firm's quarterly revenue was down 3.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts expect that Las Vegas Sands Corp. will post 2.6 EPS for the current year.

Las Vegas Sands declared that its board has authorized a stock repurchase plan on Wednesday, April 23rd that authorizes the company to repurchase $2.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the casino operator to buy up to 8.2% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are usually a sign that the company's management believes its stock is undervalued.

Las Vegas Sands Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 14th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, May 6th will be paid a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.51%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, May 6th. Las Vegas Sands's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 55.56%.

Las Vegas Sands 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.