Merit Financial Group LLC Increases Position in Las Vegas Sands Corp. $LVS

Merit Financial Group LLC grew its stake in Las Vegas Sands Corp. (NYSE:LVS) by 213.4% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 53,503 shares of the casino operator’s stock after acquiring an additional 36,432 shares during the quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC’s holdings in Las Vegas Sands were worth $3,483,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC boosted its position in shares of Las Vegas Sands by 43.8% in the 3rd quarter. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC now owns 5,454,013 shares of the casino operator’s stock worth $293,371,000 after purchasing an additional 1,660,823 shares in the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership boosted its position in shares of Las Vegas Sands by 410.2% in the 3rd quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 5,167,553 shares of the casino operator’s stock worth $277,963,000 after purchasing an additional 4,154,753 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its position in shares of Las Vegas Sands by 5.3% in the 3rd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,723,494 shares of the casino operator’s stock worth $200,335,000 after purchasing an additional 187,389 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Las Vegas Sands by 64.5% in the 3rd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 2,819,128 shares of the casino operator’s stock worth $151,641,000 after purchasing an additional 1,105,630 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc boosted its position in shares of Las Vegas Sands by 0.9% in the 3rd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 1,822,120 shares of the casino operator’s stock worth $98,012,000 after purchasing an additional 16,674 shares in the last quarter. 39.16% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Las Vegas Sands Stock Performance

Shares of LVS stock opened at $57.66 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $38.26 billion, a PE ratio of 24.64, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.45 and a beta of 0.89. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $55.14 and a 200-day simple moving average of $58.92. The company has a quick ratio of 1.13, a current ratio of 1.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 7.58. Las Vegas Sands Corp. has a 52-week low of $32.20 and a 52-week high of $70.45.

Las Vegas Sands (NYSE:LVS) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 28th. The casino operator reported $0.85 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.77 by $0.08. The business had revenue of $3.65 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.33 billion. Las Vegas Sands had a return on equity of 91.40% and a net margin of 12.50%.The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 26.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.54 EPS. On average, equities analysts expect that Las Vegas Sands Corp. will post 2.6 EPS for the current year.

Las Vegas Sands Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, February 18th. Investors of record on Monday, February 9th were paid a $0.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 9th. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.1%. This is a boost from Las Vegas Sands’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. Las Vegas Sands’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 51.28%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Las Vegas Sands

In related news, CEO Patrick Dumont sold 60,165 shares of Las Vegas Sands stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $54.75, for a total value of $3,294,033.75. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 511,942 shares in the company, valued at $28,028,824.50. The trade was a 10.52% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 0.55% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

LVS has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price objective on Las Vegas Sands from $80.00 to $73.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 29th. Argus lowered their price target on Las Vegas Sands from $80.00 to $60.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 30th. Wall Street Zen cut Las Vegas Sands from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, February 14th. Barclays set a $64.00 price target on Las Vegas Sands in a research report on Thursday, January 29th. Finally, HSBC lifted their price target on Las Vegas Sands from $67.50 to $73.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 29th. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $67.84.

Las Vegas Sands Company Profile

Las Vegas Sands (NYSE: LVS) is a global developer and operator of integrated resorts, focused on large-scale properties that combine casino gaming with hotels, convention and exhibition facilities, retail, dining, and entertainment. The company’s operations center on developing and managing full-service resort complexes that serve both leisure and business travelers, with emphasis on convention and trade-show business in addition to gaming revenue streams.

The company’s portfolio has included prominent properties in North America and Asia, most notably The Venetian Resort in Las Vegas and Marina Bay Sands in Singapore, along with a significant presence in Macau through multiple integrated resorts.