Assetmark Inc. Buys 10,031 Shares of Las Vegas Sands Corp. (NYSE:LVS)

Assetmark Inc. grew its position in Las Vegas Sands Corp. (NYSE:LVS - Free Report) by 7.0% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 153,240 shares of the casino operator's stock after purchasing an additional 10,031 shares during the period. Assetmark Inc.'s holdings in Las Vegas Sands were worth $5,920,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of LVS. American Century Companies Inc. raised its holdings in Las Vegas Sands by 36.5% in the fourth quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 335,010 shares of the casino operator's stock worth $17,206,000 after purchasing an additional 89,508 shares during the period. LPL Financial LLC raised its holdings in Las Vegas Sands by 28.8% in the fourth quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 223,371 shares of the casino operator's stock worth $11,472,000 after purchasing an additional 49,982 shares during the period. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. raised its holdings in Las Vegas Sands by 11.6% in the fourth quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 575,663 shares of the casino operator's stock worth $29,025,000 after purchasing an additional 59,675 shares during the period. NEOS Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in Las Vegas Sands by 27.5% in the fourth quarter. NEOS Investment Management LLC now owns 17,302 shares of the casino operator's stock worth $889,000 after purchasing an additional 3,728 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Las Vegas Sands during the fourth quarter worth $216,571,000. 39.16% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently commented on LVS. Susquehanna dropped their price objective on shares of Las Vegas Sands from $59.00 to $58.00 and set a "positive" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, July 21st. Bank of America raised their price objective on shares of Las Vegas Sands from $52.50 to $58.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, July 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of Las Vegas Sands from $47.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, July 24th. UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of Las Vegas Sands from $43.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 8th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus set a $57.00 price objective on shares of Las Vegas Sands and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, April 24th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $57.67.

Las Vegas Sands Stock Performance

Shares of LVS traded down $0.15 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $52.34. The stock had a trading volume of 4,118,763 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,288,899. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $44.68 and a 200-day simple moving average of $42.08. Las Vegas Sands Corp. has a one year low of $30.18 and a one year high of $56.60. The firm has a market cap of $35.93 billion, a PE ratio of 26.43, a P/E/G ratio of 2.03 and a beta of 1.03. The company has a current ratio of 1.22, a quick ratio of 0.59 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.53.

Las Vegas Sands (NYSE:LVS - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 23rd. The casino operator reported $0.79 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.53 by $0.26. Las Vegas Sands had a net margin of 12.16% and a return on equity of 55.37%. The company had revenue of $3.18 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.83 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.55 EPS. The company's quarterly revenue was up 15.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Las Vegas Sands Corp. will post 2.6 EPS for the current year.

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

Las Vegas Sands Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, August 13th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, August 5th will be given a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.91%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, August 5th. Las Vegas Sands's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 50.51%.

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.