Catalyst Funds Management Pty Ltd Purchases 400 Shares of Las Vegas Sands Corp. (NYSE:LVS)

Catalyst Funds Management Pty Ltd lifted its position in Las Vegas Sands Corp. (NYSE:LVS) by 8.3% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 5,200 shares of the casino operator’s stock after buying an additional 400 shares during the quarter. Catalyst Funds Management Pty Ltd’s holdings in Las Vegas Sands were worth $267,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Meeder Asset Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Las Vegas Sands by 97.2% in the 3rd quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. now owns 89,743 shares of the casino operator’s stock valued at $4,518,000 after buying an additional 44,223 shares in the last quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. grew its stake in shares of Las Vegas Sands by 32.2% in the 4th 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 in the last quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company grew its stake in shares of Las Vegas Sands by 1.4% in the 3rd 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 in the last quarter. ARGA Investment Management LP grew 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 buying an additional 1,577,042 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC boosted its position in Las Vegas Sands by 1.2% during the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 13,810,351 shares of the casino operator’s stock worth $709,300,000 after purchasing an additional 160,711 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 39.16% of the company’s stock.

Las Vegas Sands Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE LVS opened at $43.11 on Monday. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $44.64 and a 200 day simple moving average of $47.65. The company has a current ratio of 0.74, a quick ratio of 0.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.35. The firm has a market capitalization of $30.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.88, a PEG ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 1.07. Las Vegas Sands Corp. has a one year low of $36.62 and a one year high of $56.61.

Las Vegas Sands (NYSE:LVS) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The casino operator reported $0.54 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.58 by ($0.04). Las Vegas Sands had a net margin of 12.80% and a return on equity of 45.82%. Sell-side analysts expect that Las Vegas Sands Corp. will post 2.6 EPS for the current year.

Las Vegas Sands Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, February 19th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 10th were paid a dividend of $0.25 per share. This is a positive change from Las Vegas Sands’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.32%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 10th. Las Vegas Sands’s dividend payout ratio is currently 50.76%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have issued reports on LVS. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on Las Vegas Sands from $51.00 to $49.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, February 24th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their target price on Las Vegas Sands from $66.00 to $62.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. Barclays decreased their target price on Las Vegas Sands from $61.00 to $58.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. Citigroup upped their target price on Las Vegas Sands from $64.50 to $67.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upgraded Las Vegas Sands from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $60.00 to $69.00 in a report on Friday, January 3rd. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $59.42.

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.