Las Vegas Sands Corp. (NYSE:LVS) Shares Sold by Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC

Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC trimmed its holdings in shares of Las Vegas Sands Corp. (NYSE:LVS - Free Report) by 98.7% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 16,310 shares of the casino operator's stock after selling 1,223,249 shares during the period. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC's holdings in Las Vegas Sands were worth $838,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in LVS. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. raised its holdings in Las Vegas Sands by 3.7% in the fourth quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. now owns 6,505 shares of the casino operator's stock worth $334,000 after purchasing an additional 231 shares in the last quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB raised its stake in shares of Las Vegas Sands by 45.6% during the 4th quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB now owns 760 shares of the casino operator's stock worth $39,000 after acquiring an additional 238 shares in the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. lifted its position in Las Vegas Sands by 73.5% during the fourth quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 583 shares of the casino operator's stock valued at $30,000 after acquiring an additional 247 shares during the last quarter. E Fund Management Co. Ltd. boosted its stake in Las Vegas Sands by 4.7% in the fourth quarter. E Fund Management Co. Ltd. now owns 5,595 shares of the casino operator's stock valued at $287,000 after acquiring an additional 250 shares in the last quarter. Finally, RiverFront Investment Group LLC grew its holdings in Las Vegas Sands by 2.6% in the fourth quarter. RiverFront Investment Group LLC now owns 10,257 shares of the casino operator's stock worth $527,000 after purchasing an additional 257 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 39.16% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on Las Vegas Sands from $60.00 to $59.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Barclays dropped their price target 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. Stifel Nicolaus set a $57.00 price objective on shares of Las Vegas Sands and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on shares of Las Vegas Sands from $62.00 to $61.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. Finally, Hsbc Global Res raised shares of Las Vegas Sands to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Thursday, April 24th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Las Vegas Sands has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $56.75.

Las Vegas Sands Stock Performance

Las Vegas Sands stock traded up $0.36 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $38.43. The company had a trading volume of 4,894,804 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,053,893. The company has a market capitalization of $27.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.53, a P/E/G ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 0.99. Las Vegas Sands Corp. has a 12-month low of $30.18 and a 12-month high of $56.61. The company's fifty day moving average is $38.50 and its 200-day moving average is $45.30. The company has a current ratio of 0.74, a quick ratio of 0.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.35.

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

Las Vegas Sands Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 14th. Investors of record on Tuesday, May 6th will be paid a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, May 6th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.60%. Las Vegas Sands's dividend payout ratio is presently 55.56%.

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

Las Vegas Sands 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.