Daiwa Securities Group Inc. Raises Holdings in Las Vegas Sands Corp. (NYSE:LVS)

Daiwa Securities Group Inc. lifted its stake in Las Vegas Sands Corp. (NYSE:LVS) by 12.5% in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 49,368 shares of the casino operator’s stock after acquiring an additional 5,495 shares during the period. Daiwa Securities Group Inc.’s holdings in Las Vegas Sands were worth $2,485,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its stake in shares of Las Vegas Sands by 7,647.7% during the second quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 443,325 shares of the casino operator’s stock worth $19,617,000 after buying an additional 437,603 shares during the period. Meeder Asset Management Inc. lifted its position in Las Vegas Sands by 97.2% during the 3rd quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. now owns 89,743 shares of the casino operator’s stock worth $4,518,000 after acquiring an additional 44,223 shares during the period. Sanctuary Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Las Vegas Sands during the 2nd quarter worth about $619,000. Clearbridge Investments LLC grew its stake in Las Vegas Sands by 29.9% during the 2nd quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 833,487 shares of the casino operator’s stock valued at $36,882,000 after purchasing an additional 191,805 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its holdings 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. 39.16% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Robert G. Goldstein sold 119,221 shares of Las Vegas Sands stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $53.73, for a total value of $6,405,744.33. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 84,511 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,540,776.03. The trade was a 58.52 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 1.20% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

LVS has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on Las Vegas Sands from $50.00 to $55.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of Las Vegas Sands from $53.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 15th. Argus downgraded shares of Las Vegas Sands from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 15th. Susquehanna upped their price target on shares of Las Vegas Sands from $51.00 to $59.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Finally, Mizuho lifted their price objective on Las Vegas Sands from $52.00 to $57.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $58.00.

Las Vegas Sands Price Performance

Shares of Las Vegas Sands stock opened at $51.43 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $37.29 billion, a PE ratio of 25.46, a P/E/G ratio of 1.35 and a beta of 1.11. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $50.36 and a 200 day moving average price of $44.94. The company has a quick ratio of 0.89, a current ratio of 0.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.09. Las Vegas Sands Corp. has a twelve month low of $36.62 and a twelve month high of $55.65.

Las Vegas Sands (NYSE:LVS) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The casino operator reported $0.44 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.53 by ($0.09). Las Vegas Sands had a return on equity of 44.26% and a net margin of 13.29%. The business had revenue of $2.68 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.79 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.55 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 4.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts predict that Las Vegas Sands Corp. will post 2.33 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Las Vegas Sands Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 13th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, November 5th were issued a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.56%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, November 5th. Las Vegas Sands’s payout ratio is 39.60%.

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.