Voya Investment Management LLC Acquires 178,526 Shares of Las Vegas Sands Corp. $LVS

Key Points

• Voya Investment Management LLC increased its stake in Las Vegas Sands Corp. by 15.6%, acquiring an additional 178,526 shares in the first quarter, bringing its total to approximately 1.32 million shares valued at $51.09 million.
• Several analysts have recently upgraded Las Vegas Sands, with Wall Street Zen and Argus both changing their rating from "hold" to "buy," contributing to a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a target price of $59.47.
• Las Vegas Sands reported a significant year-over-year revenue increase of 15% for the last quarter, with earnings per share of $0.79, surpassing estimates of $0.53.

Voya Investment Management LLC grew its position in shares of Las Vegas Sands Corp. (NYSE:LVS - Free Report) by 15.6% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,322,538 shares of the casino operator's stock after purchasing an additional 178,526 shares during the quarter. Voya Investment Management LLC owned approximately 0.19% of Las Vegas Sands worth $51,090,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of LVS. Center for Financial Planning Inc. bought a new position in shares of Las Vegas Sands during the 1st quarter valued at about $42,000. Farther Finance Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Las Vegas Sands by 133.1% during the 1st quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 1,499 shares of the casino operator's stock valued at $59,000 after purchasing an additional 856 shares during the last quarter. Neo Ivy Capital Management bought a new position in shares of Las Vegas Sands during the 1st quarter valued at about $127,000. Golden State Wealth Management LLC increased its position in shares of Las Vegas Sands by 103.2% during the 1st quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,587 shares of the casino operator's stock valued at $139,000 after purchasing an additional 1,822 shares during the last quarter. Finally, AlphaQuest LLC bought a new position in shares of Las Vegas Sands during the 1st quarter valued at about $153,000. 39.16% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently commented on LVS shares. Wall Street Zen upgraded Las Vegas Sands from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Sunday, September 7th. Argus upgraded 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 assumed coverage on 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. UBS Group raised their price target on Las Vegas Sands from $55.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, August 28th. Finally, Barclays raised their price target on Las Vegas Sands from $57.00 to $58.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have issued a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $59.47.

Las Vegas Sands Trading Down 2.2%

NYSE LVS opened at $53.53 on Friday. Las Vegas Sands Corp. has a fifty-two week low of $30.18 and a fifty-two week high of $58.05. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.53, a quick ratio of 1.21 and a current ratio of 1.22. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $52.79 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $44.51. The stock has a market cap of $36.75 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.04, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.99 and a beta of 1.04.

Las Vegas Sands (NYSE:LVS - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 23rd. The casino operator reported $0.79 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 business had revenue of $3.18 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.83 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.55 EPS. The business's revenue was up 15.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts forecast that Las Vegas Sands Corp. will post 2.6 earnings per share for the current year.

Las Vegas Sands Dividend Announcement

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

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