ARGA Investment Management LP raised its stake in shares of Las Vegas Sands Corp. (NYSE:LVS - Free Report) by 12.9% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 7,342,577 shares of the casino operator's stock after purchasing an additional 841,195 shares during the period. Las Vegas Sands accounts for about 9.5% of ARGA Investment Management LP's investment portfolio, making the stock its 2nd biggest holding. ARGA Investment Management LP owned approximately 1.04% of Las Vegas Sands worth $283,644,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.
Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Optiver Holding B.V. bought a new stake in Las Vegas Sands during the fourth quarter valued at about $32,000. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. bought a new position in shares of Las Vegas Sands in the fourth quarter worth about $36,000. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Las Vegas Sands by 63.0% in the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 885 shares of the casino operator's stock worth $45,000 after acquiring an additional 342 shares during the period. Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd bought a new position in shares of Las Vegas Sands in the fourth quarter worth about $56,000. Finally, Center for Financial Planning Inc. bought a new position in shares of Las Vegas Sands in the first quarter worth about $42,000. Institutional investors own 39.16% of the company's stock.
Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades
A number of research firms have recently weighed in on LVS. Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on Las Vegas Sands from $47.00 to $45.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 16th. Hsbc Global Res raised Las Vegas Sands to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. Mizuho set a $47.00 price target on Las Vegas Sands in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. The Goldman Sachs Group started coverage on Las Vegas Sands in a research report on Monday. They set a "neutral" rating and a $52.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Macquarie decreased their price objective on Las Vegas Sands from $58.00 to $52.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $55.31.
Get Our Latest Report on LVS
Las Vegas Sands Trading Up 0.3%
Shares of Las Vegas Sands stock opened at $48.36 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $34.17 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.87, a P/E/G ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 1.03. The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $41.70 and its 200-day simple moving average is $42.16. Las Vegas Sands Corp. has a 1-year low of $30.18 and a 1-year high of $56.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.58, a current ratio of 0.59 and a quick ratio of 0.59.
Las Vegas Sands (NYSE:LVS - Get Free Report) last released 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). The firm had revenue of $2.86 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.95 billion. Las Vegas Sands had a net margin of 11.64% and a return on equity of 44.91%. The firm's quarterly revenue was down 3.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.78 EPS. Analysts predict that Las Vegas Sands Corp. will post 2.6 EPS for the current fiscal year.
Las Vegas Sands Dividend Announcement
The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 14th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, May 6th were given a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.07%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, May 6th. Las Vegas Sands's payout ratio is presently 55.56%.
Las Vegas Sands announced that its board has approved a stock buyback plan on Wednesday, April 23rd that permits the company to buyback $2.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the casino operator to reacquire up to 8.2% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are generally an indication that the company's board believes its shares are undervalued.
Las Vegas Sands Company Profile
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Free Report)
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.
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