Wealthfront Advisers LLC Boosts Stock Position in Las Vegas Sands Corp. $LVS

Wealthfront Advisers LLC increased its stake in Las Vegas Sands Corp. (NYSE:LVS) by 18.3% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 79,780 shares of the casino operator’s stock after purchasing an additional 12,334 shares during the quarter. Wealthfront Advisers LLC’s holdings in Las Vegas Sands were worth $4,299,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Las Vegas Sands by 222.7% in the 4th quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 9,098,518 shares of the casino operator’s stock worth $592,223,000 after purchasing an additional 6,279,390 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Las Vegas Sands in the fourth quarter worth about $364,892,000. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership boosted its position in shares of Las Vegas Sands by 410.2% in the third quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 5,167,553 shares of the casino operator’s stock valued at $277,963,000 after acquiring an additional 4,154,753 shares during the period. M&T Bank Corp boosted its position in shares of Las Vegas Sands by 33,102.6% in the fourth quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 3,060,288 shares of the casino operator’s stock valued at $197,463,000 after acquiring an additional 3,051,071 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its stake in Las Vegas Sands by 18.7% during the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 7,893,031 shares of the casino operator’s stock valued at $513,757,000 after acquiring an additional 1,246,206 shares in the last quarter. 39.16% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have issued reports on LVS shares. UBS Group set a $52.00 target price on shares of Las Vegas Sands in a research note on Thursday, July 2nd. Wall Street Zen lowered Las Vegas Sands from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Sunday, July 12th. Mizuho boosted their target price on Las Vegas Sands from $65.00 to $67.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 23rd. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target on Las Vegas Sands from $72.00 to $74.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, April 23rd. Finally, Weiss Ratings downgraded Las Vegas Sands from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 26th. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $65.19.

Las Vegas Sands Stock Performance

NYSE LVS opened at $45.37 on Monday. Las Vegas Sands Corp. has a 52-week low of $44.22 and a 52-week high of $70.45. The company has a fifty day moving average of $48.80 and a 200-day moving average of $53.82. The company has a market capitalization of $30.06 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.80, a P/E/G ratio of 1.03 and a beta of 0.83. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.64, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a current ratio of 0.92.

Las Vegas Sands (NYSE:LVS) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 22nd. The casino operator reported $0.91 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.76 by $0.15. Las Vegas Sands had a return on equity of 118.27% and a net margin of 13.41%.The business had revenue of $3.58 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.32 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.59 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 25.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Las Vegas Sands Corp. will post 3.37 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Las Vegas Sands Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 13th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, May 5th were issued a $0.30 dividend. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.6%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, May 5th. Las Vegas Sands’s dividend payout ratio is presently 44.44%.

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.