Las Vegas Sands Corp. $LVS Shares Bought by Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd.

Key Points

• Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its stake in Las Vegas Sands by 7.3%, acquiring an additional 7,639 shares, bringing its total holdings to 112,784 shares worth approximately $4.35 million.
• Several institutional investors, including MGO One Seven LLC and Empirical Finance LLC, also increased their holdings in Las Vegas Sands, indicating growing interest in the company among institutional investors.
• Analysts have set a consensus target price of $58.33 for Las Vegas Sands, with five analysts rating the stock as a hold, eleven as a buy, and one as a strong buy.

Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd. raised its holdings in Las Vegas Sands Corp. (NYSE:LVS - Free Report) by 7.3% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 112,784 shares of the casino operator's stock after purchasing an additional 7,639 shares during the period. Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd.'s holdings in Las Vegas Sands were worth $4,349,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Optiver Holding B.V. purchased a new position in shares of Las Vegas Sands during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Center for Financial Planning Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Las Vegas Sands during the first quarter valued at approximately $42,000. Farther Finance Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Las Vegas Sands by 133.1% during the first quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 1,499 shares of the casino operator's stock valued at $59,000 after buying an additional 856 shares during the period. GeoWealth Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Las Vegas Sands by 104.7% during the fourth quarter. GeoWealth Management LLC now owns 1,775 shares of the casino operator's stock valued at $91,000 after buying an additional 908 shares during the period. Finally, Neo Ivy Capital Management purchased a new position in shares of Las Vegas Sands during the first quarter valued at approximately $127,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 39.16% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently issued reports on LVS. Susquehanna reduced 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 research note on Monday, July 21st. UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of Las Vegas Sands from $48.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 30th. The Goldman Sachs Group initiated coverage on shares of Las Vegas Sands in a research note on Monday, July 7th. They set a "neutral" rating and a $52.00 price objective on the stock. Macquarie increased their price target on shares of Las Vegas Sands from $52.00 to $58.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 24th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of Las Vegas Sands from $47.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 24th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have given a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $58.33.

Las Vegas Sands Trading Down 0.3%

NYSE:LVS traded down $0.1730 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $53.4470. 3,451,881 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,837,640. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.53, a current ratio of 1.22 and a quick ratio of 1.21. The firm has a market cap of $36.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.99, a PEG ratio of 2.03 and a beta of 1.08. Las Vegas Sands Corp. has a 52-week low of $30.18 and a 52-week high of $56.60. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $49.02 and a 200 day simple moving average of $43.16.

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

Las Vegas Sands announced that its board has initiated a stock repurchase program on Wednesday, April 23rd that allows the company to repurchase $2.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the casino operator to reacquire up to 8.2% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are usually a sign that the company's leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Las Vegas Sands Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, August 13th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, August 5th were given a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, August 5th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.9%. Las Vegas Sands's dividend payout ratio 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.