Savant Capital LLC Purchases New Holdings in Las Vegas Sands Corp. (NYSE:LVS)

Savant Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of Las Vegas Sands Corp. (NYSE:LVS) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 4,618 shares of the casino operator’s stock, valued at approximately $227,000.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. lifted its stake in Las Vegas Sands by 76.3% in the 3rd quarter. Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. now owns 10,520 shares of the casino operator’s stock worth $482,000 after acquiring an additional 4,554 shares in the last quarter. Strs Ohio lifted its position in shares of Las Vegas Sands by 2.7% in the third quarter. Strs Ohio now owns 114,033 shares of the casino operator’s stock worth $5,227,000 after purchasing an additional 2,991 shares in the last quarter. IFM Investors Pty Ltd boosted its holdings in shares of Las Vegas Sands by 2.1% during the third quarter. IFM Investors Pty Ltd now owns 67,605 shares of the casino operator’s stock worth $3,099,000 after purchasing an additional 1,390 shares during the period. ING Groep NV purchased a new position in Las Vegas Sands during the third quarter valued at approximately $1,892,000. Finally, Poplar Forest Capital LLC increased its stake in Las Vegas Sands by 16.1% in the 3rd quarter. Poplar Forest Capital LLC now owns 504,903 shares of the casino operator’s stock valued at $23,145,000 after buying an additional 70,075 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 39.16% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Robert G. Goldstein sold 100,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $52.06, for a total transaction of $5,206,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 172,801 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,996,020.06. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 1.20% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Las Vegas Sands Stock Performance

NYSE:LVS opened at $46.72 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $34.81 billion, a PE ratio of 22.57, a PEG ratio of 0.87 and a beta of 1.18. The company has a current ratio of 1.30, a quick ratio of 1.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.96. Las Vegas Sands Corp. has a 1 year low of $43.77 and a 1 year high of $63.51. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $50.07 and its 200 day simple moving average is $49.71.

Las Vegas Sands (NYSE:LVS) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 17th. The casino operator reported $0.75 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.62 by $0.13. Las Vegas Sands had a return on equity of 42.34% and a net margin of 13.99%. The company had revenue of $2.86 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.94 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.28 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 34.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Las Vegas Sands Corp. will post 2.63 EPS for the current year.

Las Vegas Sands Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, May 7th will be issued a dividend of $0.20 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, May 6th. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.71%. Las Vegas Sands’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 38.65%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Barclays decreased their target price on shares of Las Vegas Sands from $60.00 to $59.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 18th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on Las Vegas Sands from $62.00 to $60.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 18th. Jefferies Financial Group cut their price target on Las Vegas Sands from $54.00 to $53.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 18th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on Las Vegas Sands from $59.00 to $55.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 18th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus cut their price objective on shares of Las Vegas Sands from $70.00 to $65.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 18th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Las Vegas Sands presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $63.46.

Las Vegas Sands 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.