Las Vegas Sands Corp. $LVS Shares Bought by Westpac Banking Corp

Westpac Banking Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Las Vegas Sands Corp. (NYSE:LVS) by 38.4% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 70,625 shares of the casino operator’s stock after buying an additional 19,604 shares during the period. Westpac Banking Corp’s holdings in Las Vegas Sands were worth $3,805,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Mackenzie Financial Corp grew its stake in shares of Las Vegas Sands by 0.3% during the 3rd quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 53,945 shares of the casino operator’s stock worth $2,902,000 after purchasing an additional 156 shares during the period. Parallel Advisors LLC grew its position in Las Vegas Sands by 7.8% during the third quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 2,449 shares of the casino operator’s stock worth $132,000 after buying an additional 177 shares during the period. &PARTNERS increased its holdings in Las Vegas Sands by 3.2% in the fourth quarter. &PARTNERS now owns 6,930 shares of the casino operator’s stock valued at $453,000 after buying an additional 214 shares in the last quarter. United Capital Financial Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Las Vegas Sands by 5.5% during the 3rd quarter. United Capital Financial Advisors LLC now owns 4,945 shares of the casino operator’s stock valued at $266,000 after acquiring an additional 258 shares during the period. Finally, Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC boosted its stake in shares of Las Vegas Sands by 4.2% during the 4th quarter. Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC now owns 6,859 shares of the casino operator’s stock worth $446,000 after acquiring an additional 279 shares in the last quarter. 39.16% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on LVS shares. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price target on Las Vegas Sands from $72.00 to $74.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, April 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on Las Vegas Sands from $65.00 to $53.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, July 14th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered their target price on Las Vegas Sands from $77.00 to $73.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 23rd. Bank of America cut their price target on Las Vegas Sands from $70.00 to $60.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Monday. Finally, Weiss Ratings lowered shares of Las Vegas Sands from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 26th. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Las Vegas Sands presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $65.31.

Las Vegas Sands Stock Performance

Las Vegas Sands stock opened at $45.43 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.64, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a current ratio of 0.92. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $48.55 and a two-hundred day moving average of $53.54. The company has a market capitalization of $30.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.82, a PEG ratio of 1.04 and a beta of 0.83. Las Vegas Sands Corp. has a fifty-two week low of $44.22 and a fifty-two week high of $70.45.

Las Vegas Sands (NYSE:LVS) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 22nd. The casino operator reported $0.91 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 company had revenue of $3.58 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.32 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.59 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 25.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts anticipate that Las Vegas Sands Corp. will post 3.37 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.