J. Goldman & Co LP Buys 231,178 Shares of Las Vegas Sands Corp. (NYSE:LVS)

J. Goldman & Co LP lifted its stake in shares of Las Vegas Sands Corp. (NYSE:LVS - Free Report) by 779.3% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 260,841 shares of the casino operator's stock after purchasing an additional 231,178 shares during the period. J. Goldman & Co LP's holdings in Las Vegas Sands were worth $13,397,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Capital Research Global Investors increased its position 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 worth $3,021,205,000 after buying an additional 12,304,533 shares during the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC increased its holdings in Las Vegas Sands by 55.7% in the 4th 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 last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC raised its stake in Las Vegas Sands by 1.2% in the 4th quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 13,810,351 shares of the casino operator's stock valued at $709,300,000 after acquiring an additional 160,711 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its holdings 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 valued at $598,988,000 after purchasing an additional 1,389,963 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC boosted 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 purchasing an additional 2,152,829 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 39.16% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have recently issued reports on LVS shares. 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. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price 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. Citigroup raised their price target on Las Vegas Sands from $64.50 to $67.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Barclays decreased their price objective on 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. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on Las Vegas Sands from $60.00 to $59.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $56.75.

Las Vegas Sands Trading Up 0.1 %

Shares of LVS opened at $39.80 on Friday. 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 Corp. has a 1-year low of $30.18 and a 1-year high of $56.61. The company has a market capitalization of $28.12 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.20, a P/E/G ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 0.99. The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $37.97 and its 200 day simple moving average is $44.92.

Las Vegas Sands (NYSE:LVS - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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). The company had revenue of $2.86 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.95 billion. Las Vegas Sands had a net margin of 12.80% and a return on equity of 45.82%. The business's quarterly revenue was down 3.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.78 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that Las Vegas Sands Corp. will post 2.6 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Las Vegas Sands Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 14th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, May 6th will be paid a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.51%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, May 6th. Las Vegas Sands's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 55.56%.

Las Vegas Sands declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a share buyback plan on Wednesday, April 23rd that permits the company to buyback $2.00 billion in outstanding 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 often an indication that the company's management believes its stock is 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.

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