Las Vegas Sands Corp. (NYSE:LVS) Position Trimmed by Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC

Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC trimmed its holdings in shares of Las Vegas Sands Corp. (NYSE:LVS - Free Report) by 29.0% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 27,687 shares of the casino operator's stock after selling 11,335 shares during the period. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC's holdings in Las Vegas Sands were worth $1,422,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Capital Research Global Investors raised its position in Las Vegas Sands by 26.5% during the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 58,824,289 shares of the casino operator's stock worth $3,021,205,000 after acquiring an additional 12,304,533 shares during the period. Janus Henderson Group PLC raised its position in Las Vegas Sands by 55.7% during the fourth quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 14,218,581 shares of the casino operator's stock worth $730,295,000 after acquiring an additional 5,088,095 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Las Vegas Sands during the fourth quarter worth $216,571,000. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC raised its position in 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 acquiring an additional 2,152,829 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its position in 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 acquiring an additional 1,389,963 shares during the period. 39.16% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Las Vegas Sands Stock Performance

Las Vegas Sands stock traded down $0.67 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $41.82. The company's stock had a trading volume of 2,983,105 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,065,135. The company has a current ratio of 0.74, a quick ratio of 0.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.35. The firm has a market cap of $29.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.23, a PEG ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 1.03. Las Vegas Sands Corp. has a twelve month low of $30.18 and a twelve month high of $56.61. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $37.82 and a 200-day moving average price of $43.46.

Las Vegas Sands (NYSE:LVS - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 23rd. The casino operator reported $0.59 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.60 by ($0.01). Las Vegas Sands had a net margin of 12.80% and a return on equity of 45.82%. The company had revenue of $2.86 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.95 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.78 earnings per share. Las Vegas Sands's revenue for the quarter was down 3.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts predict that Las Vegas Sands Corp. will post 2.6 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Las Vegas Sands Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 14th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, May 6th were issued a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, May 6th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.39%. Las Vegas Sands's payout ratio is presently 55.56%.

Las Vegas Sands announced that its board has initiated a stock buyback program on Wednesday, April 23rd that authorizes the company to buyback $2.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the casino operator to buy up to 8.2% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are often an indication that the company's management believes its shares are undervalued.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

LVS has been the subject of a number of research reports. Barclays dropped their target price on shares of Las Vegas Sands from $58.00 to $53.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Hsbc Global Res raised shares of Las Vegas Sands to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Thursday, April 24th. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price 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 target price on shares of Las Vegas Sands in a report on Thursday, April 24th. Finally, Macquarie cut their price objective on shares of Las Vegas Sands from $58.00 to $52.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $56.75.

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.