Edgestream Partners L.P. Takes $970,000 Position in Las Vegas Sands Corp. (NYSE:LVS)

Edgestream Partners L.P. purchased a new position in shares of Las Vegas Sands Corp. (NYSE:LVS - Free Report) in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm purchased 25,106 shares of the casino operator's stock, valued at approximately $970,000.

Other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Capital Research Global Investors lifted its stake in Las Vegas Sands by 26.5% in 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 acquiring an additional 12,304,533 shares during the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC lifted its stake in Las Vegas Sands by 55.7% in the fourth quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 14,218,581 shares of the casino operator's stock valued at $730,295,000 after acquiring an additional 5,088,095 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Las Vegas Sands in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $216,571,000. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC lifted its stake in Las Vegas Sands by 29.8% in the fourth quarter. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC now owns 9,382,267 shares of the casino operator's stock valued at $481,873,000 after acquiring an additional 2,152,829 shares during the last quarter. Finally, ARGA Investment Management LP lifted its stake in Las Vegas Sands by 12.9% in the first quarter. ARGA Investment Management LP now owns 7,342,577 shares of the casino operator's stock valued at $283,644,000 after acquiring an additional 841,195 shares during the last quarter. 39.16% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Las Vegas Sands Price Performance

NYSE LVS traded down $0.26 on Friday, hitting $48.67. 3,705,984 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 5,867,774. Las Vegas Sands Corp. has a 1-year low of $30.18 and a 1-year high of $56.61. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $43.73 and a two-hundred day moving average of $42.10. The company has a current ratio of 0.59, a quick ratio of 0.59 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.58. The company has a market cap of $34.39 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.04, a P/E/G ratio of 2.45 and a beta of 1.03.

Las Vegas Sands (NYSE:LVS - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 23rd. The casino operator reported $0.59 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.60 by ($0.01). Las Vegas Sands had a return on equity of 44.91% and a net margin of 11.64%. The company 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 company earned $0.78 EPS. The firm's revenue was down 3.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts predict that Las Vegas Sands Corp. will post 2.6 EPS for the current year.

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

Las Vegas Sands Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 14th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, May 6th were given a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, May 6th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.05%. Las Vegas Sands's payout ratio is presently 55.56%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on LVS shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. started coverage on shares of Las Vegas Sands in a research note on Monday, June 23rd. They issued a "neutral" rating and a $47.00 price objective for the company. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of Las Vegas Sands from $45.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Friday, July 11th. Hsbc Global Res upgraded shares of Las Vegas Sands to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of Las Vegas Sands from $43.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 8th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group began coverage on shares of Las Vegas Sands in a research report on Monday, July 7th. They set a "neutral" rating and a $52.00 target price on the stock. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $55.62.

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.