Quantessence Capital LLC Acquires Shares of 5,602 Las Vegas Sands Corp. (NYSE:LVS)

Quantessence Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of Las Vegas Sands Corp. (NYSE:LVS) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund bought 5,602 shares of the casino operator’s stock, valued at approximately $288,000.

Other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Capital Research Global Investors increased its holdings in Las Vegas Sands by 26.5% in the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 58,824,289 shares of the casino operator’s stock valued at $3,021,205,000 after purchasing an additional 12,304,533 shares during the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Las Vegas Sands by 1.2% in the 4th quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 13,810,351 shares of the casino operator’s stock valued at $709,300,000 after acquiring an additional 160,711 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its position in shares of 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 valued at $598,988,000 after acquiring an additional 1,389,963 shares during the period. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC grew its holdings in Las Vegas Sands by 29.8% during the fourth quarter. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC now owns 9,382,267 shares of the casino operator’s stock valued at $481,873,000 after purchasing an additional 2,152,829 shares during the period. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Las Vegas Sands by 0.9% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 8,637,600 shares of the casino operator’s stock valued at $443,086,000 after purchasing an additional 80,709 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 39.16% of the company’s stock.

Las Vegas Sands Trading Up 4.5 %

NYSE LVS opened at $34.01 on Wednesday. Las Vegas Sands Corp. has a 12 month low of $30.18 and a 12 month high of $56.61. 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 stock has a 50 day moving average of $39.75 and a 200-day moving average of $46.21. The company has a market cap of $24.03 billion, a PE ratio of 17.26, a PEG ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 0.99.

Las Vegas Sands (NYSE:LVS) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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%. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Las Vegas Sands Corp. will post 2.6 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Las Vegas Sands Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, February 19th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 10th were given a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.94%. This is a boost from Las Vegas Sands’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 10th. Las Vegas Sands’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 50.76%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on LVS. Macquarie boosted their price target on shares of Las Vegas Sands from $57.00 to $58.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. Morgan Stanley decreased 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 report on Wednesday, April 16th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft dropped their target price 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. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Las Vegas Sands from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price target for the company from $60.00 to $69.00 in a report on Friday, January 3rd. Finally, Citigroup increased their target price on Las Vegas Sands from $64.50 to $67.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $58.67.

Las Vegas Sands Company 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.