Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH Has $33.59 Million Stock Holdings in Las Vegas Sands Corp. (NYSE:LVS)

Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH decreased its position in shares of Las Vegas Sands Corp. (NYSE:LVS - Free Report) by 0.8% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 869,580 shares of the casino operator's stock after selling 6,920 shares during the quarter. Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH owned approximately 0.12% of Las Vegas Sands worth $33,592,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. boosted its position in Las Vegas Sands by 3.7% during the fourth quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. now owns 6,505 shares of the casino operator's stock worth $334,000 after purchasing an additional 231 shares during the period. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB grew its stake in Las Vegas Sands by 45.6% in the 4th quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB now owns 760 shares of the casino operator's stock valued at $39,000 after buying an additional 238 shares during the last quarter. E Fund Management Co. Ltd. increased its position in Las Vegas Sands by 4.7% during the fourth quarter. E Fund Management Co. Ltd. now owns 5,595 shares of the casino operator's stock worth $287,000 after acquiring an additional 250 shares during the period. RiverFront Investment Group LLC raised its stake in Las Vegas Sands by 2.6% in the 4th quarter. RiverFront Investment Group LLC now owns 10,257 shares of the casino operator's stock worth $527,000 after purchasing an additional 257 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Horizon Investments LLC boosted its holdings in Las Vegas Sands by 2.8% in the 4th quarter. Horizon Investments LLC now owns 10,200 shares of the casino operator's stock valued at $521,000 after purchasing an additional 277 shares during the period. 39.16% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have commented on LVS shares. Stifel Nicolaus set a $57.00 price objective on Las Vegas Sands and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. Macquarie cut their price objective on shares of Las Vegas Sands from $58.00 to $52.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. Mizuho set a $47.00 price objective on Las Vegas Sands in a report on Thursday, April 24th. Barclays dropped their target price on Las Vegas Sands from $58.00 to $53.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Finally, Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on Las Vegas Sands from $47.00 to $45.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 16th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Las Vegas Sands has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $56.75.

Las Vegas Sands Trading Up 0.2%

Shares of LVS stock traded up $0.08 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $41.92. 2,884,597 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 6,051,558. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $37.82 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $43.46. The firm has a market cap of $29.62 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.28, a P/E/G ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 1.03. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.35, a quick ratio of 0.73 and a current ratio of 0.74. Las Vegas Sands Corp. has a fifty-two week low of $30.18 and a fifty-two week high of $56.61.

Las Vegas Sands (NYSE:LVS - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 23rd. The casino operator reported $0.59 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.60 by ($0.01). Las Vegas Sands had a net margin of 12.80% and a return on equity of 45.82%. The company had revenue of $2.86 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.95 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.78 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was down 3.3% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts anticipate that Las Vegas Sands Corp. will post 2.6 EPS for the current year.

Las Vegas Sands Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 14th. Investors of record on Tuesday, May 6th were given a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.39%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, May 6th. Las Vegas Sands's payout ratio is 55.56%.

Las Vegas Sands announced that its Board of Directors has approved a share buyback 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 typically a sign that the company's board believes its stock is undervalued.

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.