Las Vegas Sands Corp. (NYSE:LVS) Shares Sold by Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc.

Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. cut its holdings in shares of Las Vegas Sands Corp. (NYSE:LVS) by 3.5% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 93,503 shares of the casino operator’s stock after selling 3,378 shares during the period. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Las Vegas Sands were worth $4,802,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Meeder Asset Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Las Vegas Sands by 97.2% during the third quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. now owns 89,743 shares of the casino operator’s stock worth $4,518,000 after purchasing an additional 44,223 shares in the last quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of Las Vegas Sands by 32.2% during the fourth quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 32,948 shares of the casino operator’s stock valued at $1,707,000 after buying an additional 8,032 shares during the last quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company grew its holdings in shares of Las Vegas Sands by 1.4% during the third quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 5,627,422 shares of the casino operator’s stock valued at $283,284,000 after buying an additional 77,807 shares during the last quarter. ARGA Investment Management LP grew its holdings in shares of Las Vegas Sands by 32.0% during the fourth quarter. ARGA Investment Management LP now owns 6,501,382 shares of the casino operator’s stock valued at $333,911,000 after buying an additional 1,577,042 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Las Vegas Sands by 33.3% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 548,072 shares of the casino operator’s stock valued at $27,590,000 after buying an additional 136,859 shares during the last quarter. 39.16% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on LVS. Citigroup boosted 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. UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of Las Vegas Sands from $49.00 to $50.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. Barclays dropped their price objective on shares of Las Vegas Sands from $61.00 to $58.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Las Vegas Sands from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $60.00 to $69.00 in a report on Friday, January 3rd. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered their price target on shares of Las Vegas Sands from $66.00 to $62.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $59.42.

Las Vegas Sands Trading Up 2.3 %

Shares of Las Vegas Sands stock opened at $44.74 on Friday. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $45.98 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $47.25. The company has a market cap of $32.03 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.71, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 1.08. Las Vegas Sands Corp. has a fifty-two week low of $36.62 and a fifty-two week high of $56.60. 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 (NYSE:LVS) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The casino operator reported $0.54 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.58 by ($0.04). Las Vegas Sands had a return on equity of 45.82% and a net margin of 12.80%. As a group, equities analysts predict that Las Vegas Sands Corp. will post 2.6 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Las Vegas Sands Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, February 19th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 10th were given a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 10th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.24%. This is an increase from Las Vegas Sands’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. Las Vegas Sands’s dividend payout ratio is 50.76%.

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.