Long Focus Capital Management LLC Cuts Stock Holdings in Las Vegas Sands Corp. (NYSE:LVS)

Long Focus Capital Management LLC lowered its stake in shares of Las Vegas Sands Corp. (NYSE:LVS - Free Report) by 14.6% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 268,000 shares of the casino operator's stock after selling 46,000 shares during the period. Long Focus Capital Management LLC's holdings in Las Vegas Sands were worth $13,764,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of LVS. Capital Research Global Investors boosted its holdings 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 buying an additional 12,304,533 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Las Vegas Sands during the 4th quarter worth about $216,571,000. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC grew its position in shares of Las Vegas Sands by 29.8% during the 4th quarter. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC now owns 9,382,267 shares of the casino operator's stock valued at $481,873,000 after acquiring an additional 2,152,829 shares during the period. ARGA Investment Management LP increased its stake in shares of Las Vegas Sands by 32.0% in the 4th quarter. ARGA Investment Management LP now owns 6,501,382 shares of the casino operator's stock valued at $333,911,000 after purchasing an additional 1,577,042 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its holdings in Las Vegas Sands by 13.5% in the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 11,662,548 shares of the casino operator's stock worth $598,988,000 after purchasing an additional 1,389,963 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 39.16% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on LVS. Stifel Nicolaus set a $57.00 target price on Las Vegas Sands and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on shares of Las Vegas Sands from $60.00 to $59.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on shares of Las Vegas Sands from $62.00 to $61.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. Macquarie decreased their price target on shares of Las Vegas Sands from $58.00 to $52.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday. Finally, Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on Las Vegas Sands from $47.00 to $45.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 16th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $56.75.

Las Vegas Sands Price Performance

Shares of NYSE LVS traded up $0.23 on Monday, hitting $36.12. The company's stock had a trading volume of 2,234,603 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,048,098. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $39.27 and a 200-day moving average of $45.82. The company has a market capitalization of $25.52 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.32, a price-to-earnings-growth 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 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 (NYSE:LVS - Get Free Report) last released its 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). The firm had revenue of $2.86 billion during 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%. Las Vegas Sands's revenue for the quarter was down 3.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.78 earnings per share. As a group, research 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 announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 14th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, May 6th will be paid a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, May 6th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.77%. Las Vegas Sands's payout ratio is currently 55.56%.

Las Vegas Sands announced that its board has initiated a stock repurchase program on Wednesday, April 23rd that allows the company to buyback $2.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the casino operator to buy up to 8.2% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are typically a sign that the company's leadership 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.