Focus Partners Advisor Solutions LLC Increases Stock Holdings in Las Vegas Sands Corp. $LVS

Focus Partners Advisor Solutions LLC lifted its stake in shares of Las Vegas Sands Corp. (NYSE:LVS) by 51.1% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 40,884 shares of the casino operator’s stock after acquiring an additional 13,823 shares during the period. Focus Partners Advisor Solutions LLC’s holdings in Las Vegas Sands were worth $2,661,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of LVS. Wealthfront Advisers LLC lifted its stake in Las Vegas Sands by 40.6% in the fourth quarter. Wealthfront Advisers LLC now owns 67,446 shares of the casino operator’s stock worth $4,390,000 after acquiring an additional 19,488 shares during the last quarter. Perpetual Ltd purchased a new position in Las Vegas Sands in the fourth quarter worth approximately $2,051,000. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. lifted its stake in Las Vegas Sands by 411.5% in the fourth quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. now owns 44,208 shares of the casino operator’s stock worth $2,877,000 after acquiring an additional 35,566 shares during the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC increased its holdings in shares of Las Vegas Sands by 2,655.3% in the 4th quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 878,022 shares of the casino operator’s stock valued at $57,150,000 after acquiring an additional 846,155 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB increased its holdings in shares of Las Vegas Sands by 99.5% in the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 934,927 shares of the casino operator’s stock valued at $60,901,000 after acquiring an additional 466,330 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 39.16% of the company’s stock.

Las Vegas Sands Price Performance

Shares of LVS opened at $50.80 on Thursday. Las Vegas Sands Corp. has a 1-year low of $40.03 and a 1-year high of $70.45. The stock has a market cap of $33.66 billion, a PE ratio of 18.81, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.17 and a beta of 0.81. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.64, a current ratio of 0.92 and a quick ratio of 0.91. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $52.82 and a 200 day moving average price of $57.55.

Las Vegas Sands (NYSE:LVS) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 22nd. The casino operator reported $0.91 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.76 by $0.15. The company had revenue of $3.59 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.32 billion. Las Vegas Sands had a return on equity of 118.27% and a net margin of 13.41%.The firm’s revenue was up 25.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.59 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Las Vegas Sands Corp. will post 3.38 EPS for the current year.

Las Vegas Sands Dividend Announcement

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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, May 5th. Las Vegas Sands’s dividend payout ratio is presently 44.44%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently commented on LVS. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on Las Vegas Sands from $68.00 to $65.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 16th. Mizuho increased their price objective on Las Vegas Sands from $65.00 to $67.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, April 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on Las Vegas Sands from $71.00 to $68.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 23rd. UBS Group dropped their price objective on Las Vegas Sands from $69.00 to $62.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, June 4th. Finally, Citigroup increased their price objective on Las Vegas Sands from $76.75 to $78.50 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, April 13th. Eleven equities research 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, Las Vegas Sands has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $67.91.

Insider Buying and Selling at Las Vegas Sands

In other news, CEO Patrick Dumont sold 60,165 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 511,942 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $28,028,824.50. This represents a 10.52% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.55% of the company’s stock.

About Las Vegas Sands

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.