Las Vegas Sands Corp. (NYSE:LVS) Shares Bought by Bleakley Financial Group LLC

Bleakley Financial Group LLC grew its holdings in Las Vegas Sands Corp. (NYSE:LVS) by 33.9% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 15,271 shares of the casino operator’s stock after buying an additional 3,862 shares during the quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC’s holdings in Las Vegas Sands were worth $784,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Meeder Asset Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Las Vegas Sands by 97.2% in the third quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. now owns 89,743 shares of the casino operator’s stock valued at $4,518,000 after acquiring an additional 44,223 shares during the period. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company grew its stake in shares of Las Vegas Sands by 1.4% during the 3rd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 5,627,422 shares of the casino operator’s stock worth $283,284,000 after purchasing an additional 77,807 shares during the period. Sanctuary Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Las Vegas Sands in the 2nd quarter valued at about $619,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Las Vegas Sands by 33.3% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 548,072 shares of the casino operator’s stock valued at $27,590,000 after purchasing an additional 136,859 shares during the period. Finally, ARGA Investment Management LP boosted its holdings in Las Vegas Sands by 32.0% during the fourth quarter. ARGA Investment Management LP now owns 6,501,382 shares of the casino operator’s stock worth $333,911,000 after buying an additional 1,577,042 shares in the last quarter. 39.16% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Robert G. Goldstein sold 60,187 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $53.02, for a total transaction of $3,191,114.74. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. 0.91% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on shares of Las Vegas Sands from $55.00 to $64.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Mizuho boosted their target price on Las Vegas Sands from $52.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Citigroup raised their price target on Las Vegas Sands from $64.50 to $67.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Barclays cut their price target on Las Vegas Sands from $61.00 to $58.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. Finally, Morgan Stanley restated an “equal weight” rating and set a $51.00 target price (down from $54.00) on shares of Las Vegas Sands in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $59.58.

Las Vegas Sands Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE LVS opened at $43.00 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.09, a current ratio of 0.90 and a quick ratio of 0.89. The company has a market cap of $31.17 billion, a PE ratio of 21.83, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.32 and a beta of 1.08. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $49.02 and a 200-day simple moving average of $46.84. Las Vegas Sands Corp. has a 12 month low of $36.62 and a 12 month high of $56.60.

Las Vegas Sands (NYSE:LVS) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The casino operator reported $0.54 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.58 by ($0.04). Las Vegas Sands had a return on equity of 43.76% and a net margin of 12.80%. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Las Vegas Sands Corp. will post 2.63 earnings per share for the current year.

Las Vegas Sands Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, February 19th. Investors of record on Monday, February 10th will be paid a $0.25 dividend. This is a positive change from Las Vegas Sands’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.33%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, February 10th. Las Vegas Sands’s dividend payout ratio is presently 40.61%.

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.