Bank of New York Mellon Corp Increases Stake in Las Vegas Sands Corp. $LVS

Key Points

• Bank of New York Mellon increased its stake in Las Vegas Sands by 18.7% in the fourth quarter, holding about 7.9 million shares valued at roughly $513.8 million.
• Several other institutional investors also boosted or initiated positions, and 39.16% of Las Vegas Sands is now owned by institutions and hedge funds.
• Las Vegas Sands reported strong quarterly results, with EPS of $0.91 beating estimates and revenue of $3.59 billion topping forecasts, while analysts currently rate the stock a “Moderate Buy” with a consensus target price of $68.28.

Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its stake in Las Vegas Sands Corp. (NYSE:LVS - Free Report) by 18.7% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 7,893,031 shares of the casino operator's stock after acquiring an additional 1,246,206 shares during the quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp owned about 1.17% of Las Vegas Sands worth $513,757,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Las Vegas Sands in the 4th quarter worth $364,892,000. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC increased its position in shares of Las Vegas Sands by 43.8% during the 3rd quarter. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC now owns 5,454,013 shares of the casino operator's stock worth $293,371,000 after purchasing an additional 1,660,823 shares during the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership increased its position in shares of Las Vegas Sands by 410.2% during the 3rd quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 5,167,553 shares of the casino operator's stock worth $277,963,000 after purchasing an additional 4,154,753 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its position in shares of Las Vegas Sands by 5.3% during the 3rd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,723,494 shares of the casino operator's stock worth $200,335,000 after purchasing an additional 187,389 shares during the last quarter. Finally, M&T Bank Corp increased its position in shares of Las Vegas Sands by 33,102.6% during the 4th quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 3,060,288 shares of the casino operator's stock worth $197,463,000 after purchasing an additional 3,051,071 shares during the last quarter. 39.16% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts recently issued reports on LVS shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut their price objective on Las Vegas Sands from $77.00 to $73.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 23rd. HSBC raised their price objective on Las Vegas Sands from $73.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 23rd. Mizuho raised their price objective on Las Vegas Sands from $65.00 to $67.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 23rd. Wall Street Zen downgraded Las Vegas Sands from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, May 23rd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on Las Vegas Sands from $68.00 to $65.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 16th. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $68.28.

Insider Activity at Las Vegas Sands

In other news, CEO Patrick Dumont sold 60,165 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $54.75, for a total transaction of $3,294,033.75. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 511,942 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $28,028,824.50. The trade was a 10.52% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.55% of the company's stock.

Las Vegas Sands Stock Performance

NYSE LVS opened at $50.83 on Thursday. Las Vegas Sands Corp. has a 1-year low of $40.03 and a 1-year high of $70.45. The company has a market cap of $33.68 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.83, a P/E/G ratio of 1.16 and a beta of 0.81. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.64, a current ratio of 0.92 and a quick ratio of 0.91. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $53.03 and a two-hundred day moving average of $58.03.

Las Vegas Sands (NYSE:LVS - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 22nd. The casino operator reported $0.91 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.76 by $0.15. Las Vegas Sands had a return on equity of 118.27% and a net margin of 13.41%.The business had revenue of $3.59 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.32 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.59 earnings per share. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 25.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts anticipate that Las Vegas Sands Corp. will post 3.38 EPS for the current year.

Las Vegas Sands Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 13th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, May 5th were given a dividend of $0.30 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, May 5th. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.4%. Las Vegas Sands's payout ratio is currently 44.44%.

Las Vegas Sands Company Profile

Las Vegas Sands NYSE: LVS is a global developer and operator of integrated resorts, focused on large-scale properties that combine casino gaming with hotels, convention and exhibition facilities, retail, dining, and entertainment. The company's operations center on developing and managing full-service resort complexes that serve both leisure and business travelers, with emphasis on convention and trade-show business in addition to gaming revenue streams.

The company's portfolio has included prominent properties in North America and Asia, most notably The Venetian Resort in Las Vegas and Marina Bay Sands in Singapore, along with a significant presence in Macau through multiple integrated resorts.

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