58,792 Shares in Las Vegas Sands Corp. (NYSE:LVS) Bought by Virtu Financial LLC

Key Points

• Virtu Financial LLC made a new investment of $2.27 million in Las Vegas Sands Corp., purchasing 58,792 shares in the first quarter.
• Several analysts have upgraded their ratings for Las Vegas Sands, with price targets ranging from $56.00 to $60.00, suggesting a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy."
• Las Vegas Sands declared a quarterly dividend of $0.25 per share, with a dividend yield of 1.9%, alongside a share buyback program worth $2.00 billion.

Virtu Financial LLC bought a new stake in Las Vegas Sands Corp. (NYSE:LVS - Free Report) during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm bought 58,792 shares of the casino operator's stock, valued at approximately $2,271,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of LVS. Capital Research Global Investors raised its stake in Las Vegas Sands by 26.5% in the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 58,824,289 shares of the casino operator's stock valued at $3,021,205,000 after purchasing an additional 12,304,533 shares in the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC raised its stake in Las Vegas Sands by 55.7% in the fourth quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 14,218,581 shares of the casino operator's stock valued at $730,295,000 after purchasing an additional 5,088,095 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in Las Vegas Sands by 5.8% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 41,249,208 shares of the casino operator's stock valued at $1,593,457,000 after purchasing an additional 2,267,307 shares in the last quarter. ARGA Investment Management LP raised its stake in Las Vegas Sands by 12.9% in the first quarter. ARGA Investment Management LP now owns 7,342,577 shares of the casino operator's stock valued at $283,644,000 after purchasing an additional 841,195 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its stake in Las Vegas Sands by 42.7% in the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,652,458 shares of the casino operator's stock valued at $136,218,000 after purchasing an additional 793,789 shares in the last quarter. 39.16% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have commented on LVS. Stifel Nicolaus set a $57.00 price target on shares of Las Vegas Sands and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. Barclays increased their price target on shares of Las Vegas Sands from $57.00 to $58.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. Argus upgraded shares of Las Vegas Sands from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $60.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Monday, July 28th. The Goldman Sachs Group began coverage on shares of Las Vegas Sands in a research report on Monday, July 7th. They set a "neutral" rating and a $52.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Citigroup reiterated a "buy" rating on shares of Las Vegas Sands in a research report on Wednesday, July 9th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $58.33.

Las Vegas Sands Trading Up 1.5%

Shares of Las Vegas Sands stock traded up $0.81 on Tuesday, hitting $53.83. The stock had a trading volume of 5,300,494 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,133,846. The company has a quick ratio of 1.21, a current ratio of 1.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.53. Las Vegas Sands Corp. has a one year low of $30.18 and a one year high of $56.60. The stock has a market cap of $36.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.19, a PEG ratio of 2.01 and a beta of 1.08. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $47.30 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $42.72.

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

Las Vegas Sands announced that its Board of Directors has approved a share 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 buy 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 stock is undervalued.

Las Vegas Sands Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, August 13th. Investors of record on Tuesday, August 5th will be paid a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, August 5th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.9%. Las Vegas Sands's dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.