Las Vegas Sands Corp. (NYSE:LVS) Shares Acquired by Bleakley Financial Group LLC

Bleakley Financial Group LLC raised its stake in Las Vegas Sands Corp. (NYSE:LVS - Free Report) by 35.2% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 20,644 shares of the casino operator's stock after buying an additional 5,373 shares during the period. Bleakley Financial Group LLC's holdings in Las Vegas Sands were worth $797,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in LVS. Achmea Investment Management B.V. increased its stake in shares of Las Vegas Sands by 55.4% during the 1st quarter. Achmea Investment Management B.V. now owns 31,411 shares of the casino operator's stock worth $1,213,000 after purchasing an additional 11,197 shares in the last quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. increased its stake in shares of Las Vegas Sands by 18.4% during the 1st quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 39,005 shares of the casino operator's stock worth $1,489,000 after purchasing an additional 6,057 shares in the last quarter. Polymer Capital Management HK LTD purchased a new position in shares of Las Vegas Sands during the 4th quarter worth approximately $2,311,000. Northern Trust Corp increased its stake in shares of Las Vegas Sands by 12.4% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 3,088,597 shares of the casino operator's stock worth $158,630,000 after purchasing an additional 339,992 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its stake in shares of Las Vegas Sands by 0.9% during the 4th quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 1,192,285 shares of the casino operator's stock worth $61,236,000 after purchasing an additional 10,544 shares in the last quarter. 39.16% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Las Vegas Sands Trading Down 0.5%

Shares of LVS traded down $0.23 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $48.89. The company had a trading volume of 8,021,401 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,870,344. The stock has a market cap of $34.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.16, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.83 and a beta of 1.03. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $43.37 and a 200-day simple moving average of $42.19. Las Vegas Sands Corp. has a fifty-two week low of $30.18 and a fifty-two week high of $56.61. The company has a current ratio of 0.59, a quick ratio of 0.59 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.58.

Las Vegas Sands (NYSE:LVS - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 23rd. The casino operator reported $0.59 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.60 by ($0.01). The company had revenue of $2.86 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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 revenue for the quarter was down 3.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.78 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Las Vegas Sands Corp. will post 2.6 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Las Vegas Sands Announces Dividend

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

Las Vegas Sands declared that its board has authorized a stock buyback 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 reacquire up to 8.2% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are generally a sign that the company's management believes its stock is undervalued.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on LVS shares. Citigroup reissued a "buy" rating on shares of Las Vegas Sands in a research note on Wednesday, July 9th. Mizuho set a $47.00 price objective on shares of Las Vegas Sands in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. Stifel Nicolaus set a $57.00 price objective on shares of Las Vegas Sands and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. Barclays dropped their price objective on shares of Las Vegas Sands from $58.00 to $53.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. Finally, UBS Group lifted 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 note on Tuesday, July 8th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $55.31.

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.