476,000 Shares in Las Vegas Sands Corp. (NYSE:LVS) Acquired by Maple Rock Capital Partners Inc.

Maple Rock Capital Partners Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Las Vegas Sands Corp. (NYSE:LVS - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 476,000 shares of the casino operator's stock, valued at approximately $24,447,000. Las Vegas Sands makes up about 0.7% of Maple Rock Capital Partners Inc.'s investment portfolio, making the stock its 21st largest position. Maple Rock Capital Partners Inc. owned 0.07% of Las Vegas Sands as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. acquired a new stake in Las Vegas Sands in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $3,277,000. Comerica Bank boosted its position in shares of Las Vegas Sands by 1.0% in the 4th quarter. Comerica Bank now owns 64,615 shares of the casino operator's stock worth $3,319,000 after purchasing an additional 671 shares in the last quarter. Schonfeld Strategic Advisors LLC grew its stake in Las Vegas Sands by 2.6% during the 4th quarter. Schonfeld Strategic Advisors LLC now owns 278,156 shares of the casino operator's stock worth $14,286,000 after buying an additional 6,928 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp increased its position in Las Vegas Sands by 12.4% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 3,088,597 shares of the casino operator's stock valued at $158,630,000 after buying an additional 339,992 shares in the last quarter. Finally, The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company raised its stake in Las Vegas Sands by 0.4% in the fourth quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 5,652,411 shares of the casino operator's stock valued at $290,308,000 after buying an additional 24,989 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 39.16% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

LVS has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Citigroup upped their price objective on shares of Las Vegas Sands from $64.50 to $67.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Morgan Stanley reduced their target price 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. Stifel Nicolaus set a $57.00 price objective on Las Vegas Sands and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, April 24th. Macquarie dropped their target price on Las Vegas Sands from $58.00 to $52.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. Finally, Barclays decreased their price objective on shares of Las Vegas Sands from $58.00 to $53.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. Four research 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $56.75.

Las Vegas Sands Price Performance

Las Vegas Sands stock traded up $1.06 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $39.87. The company had a trading volume of 2,374,884 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,062,062. The firm has a market capitalization of $28.17 billion, a PE ratio of 20.20, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 0.99. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $38.30 and its 200 day simple moving average is $45.16. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.35, a quick ratio of 0.73 and a current ratio of 0.74. Las Vegas Sands Corp. has a 1-year low of $30.18 and a 1-year high of $56.61.

Las Vegas Sands (NYSE:LVS - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results 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). Las Vegas Sands had a return on equity of 45.82% and a net margin of 12.80%. The company had revenue of $2.86 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.95 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.78 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was down 3.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Las Vegas Sands Corp. will post 2.6 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Las Vegas Sands Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 14th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, May 6th will be issued a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.51%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, May 6th. Las Vegas Sands's payout ratio is 55.56%.

Las Vegas Sands declared that its board has authorized a share 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 repurchase up to 8.2% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are typically a sign that the company's management believes its stock is 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.