Las Vegas Sands Corp. (NYSE:LVS) Shares Bought by UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC

UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC raised its holdings in shares of Las Vegas Sands Corp. (NYSE:LVS - Free Report) by 18.1% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 3,141,644 shares of the casino operator's stock after acquiring an additional 482,217 shares during the quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC owned approximately 0.43% of Las Vegas Sands worth $161,355,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Capital Research Global Investors increased its holdings in Las Vegas Sands by 26.5% during the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 58,824,289 shares of the casino operator's stock valued at $3,021,205,000 after acquiring an additional 12,304,533 shares in the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC increased its holdings in Las Vegas Sands by 55.7% during the 4th quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 14,218,581 shares of the casino operator's stock valued at $730,295,000 after acquiring an additional 5,088,095 shares in the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in Las Vegas Sands by 1.2% during the 4th quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 13,810,351 shares of the casino operator's stock valued at $709,300,000 after acquiring an additional 160,711 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its holdings in shares of Las Vegas Sands by 13.5% during the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 11,662,548 shares of the casino operator's stock worth $598,988,000 after buying an additional 1,389,963 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC grew its holdings in shares of Las Vegas Sands by 29.8% during the fourth quarter. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC now owns 9,382,267 shares of the casino operator's stock worth $481,873,000 after buying an additional 2,152,829 shares in the last quarter. 39.16% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently commented on LVS. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on shares of Las Vegas Sands from $60.00 to $59.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Stifel Nicolaus set a $57.00 price target on shares of Las Vegas Sands and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, April 24th. Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on shares of Las Vegas Sands from $47.00 to $45.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 16th. Mizuho set a $47.00 price target on shares of Las Vegas Sands in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on shares of Las Vegas Sands from $62.00 to $61.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. Four 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 stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Las Vegas Sands presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $56.75.

Las Vegas Sands Stock Down 2.2%

LVS traded down $0.90 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $40.74. The company had a trading volume of 2,480,053 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,114,658. The company has a market cap of $28.79 billion, a PE ratio of 20.66, a P/E/G ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 0.99. The business has a 50-day moving average of $37.32 and a 200-day moving average of $44.04. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.35, a current ratio of 0.74 and a quick ratio of 0.73. Las Vegas Sands Corp. has a 1-year low of $30.18 and a 1-year 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 (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate 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 12.80% and a return on equity of 45.82%. The company's revenue was down 3.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.78 earnings per share. As a group, analysts forecast that Las Vegas Sands Corp. will post 2.6 earnings per share for the current year.

Las Vegas Sands Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 14th. Investors of record on Tuesday, May 6th were issued a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, May 6th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.45%. Las Vegas Sands's dividend payout ratio is presently 55.56%.

Las Vegas Sands announced that its board has initiated a stock repurchase plan on Wednesday, April 23rd that authorizes the company to repurchase $2.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the casino operator to purchase up to 8.2% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are usually a sign that the company's board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

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.