Las Vegas Sands Corp. (NYSE:LVS) Shares Sold by USS Investment Management Ltd

USS Investment Management Ltd decreased its stake in shares of Las Vegas Sands Corp. (NYSE:LVS - Free Report) by 24.4% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 59,736 shares of the casino operator's stock after selling 19,236 shares during the period. USS Investment Management Ltd's holdings in Las Vegas Sands were worth $3,070,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. boosted its stake in Las Vegas Sands by 32.2% during the 4th quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 32,948 shares of the casino operator's stock valued at $1,707,000 after acquiring an additional 8,032 shares during the last quarter. ARGA Investment Management LP boosted its holdings in shares of Las Vegas Sands by 32.0% in the fourth quarter. ARGA Investment Management LP now owns 6,501,382 shares of the casino operator's stock worth $333,911,000 after buying an additional 1,577,042 shares during the period. Fisher Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Las Vegas Sands by 1.2% in the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 13,810,351 shares of the casino operator's stock worth $709,300,000 after buying an additional 160,711 shares during the period. Polymer Capital Management HK LTD acquired a new position in shares of Las Vegas Sands in the fourth quarter worth about $2,311,000. Finally, World Equity Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Las Vegas Sands by 82.9% in the fourth quarter. World Equity Group Inc. now owns 25,602 shares of the casino operator's stock worth $1,315,000 after buying an additional 11,602 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 39.16% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Hsbc Global Res raised shares of Las Vegas Sands to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. Stifel Nicolaus set a $57.00 price target on shares of Las Vegas Sands and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. Mizuho set a $47.00 target price on Las Vegas Sands in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. Macquarie decreased their price target on shares of Las Vegas Sands from $58.00 to $52.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. Finally, Barclays cut their price objective on Las Vegas Sands from $58.00 to $53.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $56.75.

Las Vegas Sands Stock Up 0.6%

Shares of NYSE:LVS traded up $0.24 during trading on Thursday, reaching $40.85. 1,492,308 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 6,121,341. The firm has a market cap of $28.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.70, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 0.99. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $37.29 and a two-hundred day moving average of $44.01. Las Vegas Sands Corp. has a 1-year low of $30.18 and a 1-year high of $56.61. 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 (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 return on equity of 45.82% and a net margin of 12.80%. The firm had revenue of $2.86 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.95 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.78 EPS. The firm's revenue was down 3.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts anticipate that Las Vegas Sands Corp. will post 2.6 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Las Vegas Sands declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share repurchase plan on Wednesday, April 23rd that permits the company to buyback $2.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the casino operator to repurchase up to 8.2% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are typically an indication that the company's management believes its shares are undervalued.

Las Vegas Sands Dividend Announcement

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

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.