First Trust Advisors LP Acquires 304,488 Shares of Las Vegas Sands Corp. (NYSE:LVS)

First Trust Advisors LP increased its position in shares of Las Vegas Sands Corp. (NYSE:LVS - Free Report) by 674.0% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 349,667 shares of the casino operator's stock after purchasing an additional 304,488 shares during the quarter. First Trust Advisors LP's holdings in Las Vegas Sands were worth $17,959,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB acquired a new stake in shares of Las Vegas Sands during the third quarter worth approximately $26,000. Bank of Jackson Hole Trust bought a new position in Las Vegas Sands in the 4th quarter valued at $26,000. UMB Bank n.a. boosted its stake in Las Vegas Sands by 73.5% in the fourth quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 583 shares of the casino operator's stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 247 shares in the last quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. bought a new stake in shares of Las Vegas Sands during the fourth quarter worth $36,000. Finally, Smartleaf Asset Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Las Vegas Sands by 63.0% in the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 885 shares of the casino operator's stock valued at $45,000 after buying an additional 342 shares in the last quarter. 39.16% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have commented on the stock. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on shares of Las Vegas Sands from $47.00 to $45.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 16th. Barclays decreased their price target on shares of Las Vegas Sands from $58.00 to $53.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. Macquarie dropped 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. Stifel Nicolaus set a $57.00 target price on Las Vegas Sands and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. Finally, Mizuho set a $47.00 price objective on Las Vegas Sands in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. Four 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. According to MarketBeat, Las Vegas Sands presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $56.75.

Las Vegas Sands Trading Up 3.2 %

NYSE LVS traded up $1.16 during trading on Friday, reaching $37.97. 1,639,855 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 6,108,200. Las Vegas Sands Corp. has a fifty-two week low of $30.18 and a fifty-two week high of $56.60. The stock's 50-day moving average price is $38.63 and its 200 day moving average price is $45.47. The firm has a market cap of $26.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.28, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 0.99. The company has a quick ratio of 0.73, a current ratio of 0.74 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.35.

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 (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.60 by ($0.01). The company had revenue of $2.86 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.95 billion. Las Vegas Sands had a return on equity of 45.82% and a net margin of 12.80%. The firm'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 EPS. Analysts predict that Las Vegas Sands Corp. will post 2.6 EPS for the current year.

Las Vegas Sands Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 14th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, May 6th will be issued a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, May 6th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.63%. Las Vegas Sands's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 55.56%.

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

About Las Vegas Sands

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.