Yousif Capital Management LLC Cuts Stake in Las Vegas Sands Corp. (NYSE:LVS)

Yousif Capital Management LLC decreased its holdings in Las Vegas Sands Corp. (NYSE:LVS) by 8.6% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 26,569 shares of the casino operator’s stock after selling 2,508 shares during the period. Yousif Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Las Vegas Sands were worth $1,365,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Janus Henderson Group PLC raised its holdings in Las Vegas Sands by 159.6% in the 3rd quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 9,130,486 shares of the casino operator’s stock worth $459,630,000 after purchasing an additional 5,612,975 shares in the last quarter. ARGA Investment Management LP lifted its stake in shares of Las Vegas Sands by 32.0% in the 4th quarter. ARGA Investment Management LP now owns 6,501,382 shares of the casino operator’s stock worth $333,911,000 after purchasing an additional 1,577,042 shares during the period. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company lifted its stake in shares of Las Vegas Sands by 1.4% in 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. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC raised its stake in Las Vegas Sands by 2.2% during the 3rd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 2,659,427 shares of the casino operator’s stock worth $133,876,000 after acquiring an additional 57,739 shares during the period. Finally, Bamco Inc. NY raised its stake in Las Vegas Sands by 29.2% during the 3rd quarter. Bamco Inc. NY now owns 1,581,075 shares of the casino operator’s stock worth $79,591,000 after acquiring an additional 357,234 shares during the period. 39.16% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Las Vegas Sands

In other news, CEO Robert G. Goldstein sold 60,187 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $53.02, for a total value of $3,191,114.74. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.91% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have commented on the stock. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered their price objective on shares of Las Vegas Sands from $66.00 to $62.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. Barclays cut their price target on Las Vegas Sands from $61.00 to $58.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. Macquarie raised their price objective on Las Vegas Sands from $57.00 to $58.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. Mizuho raised their price target on Las Vegas Sands from $52.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lifted their target price on Las Vegas Sands from $55.00 to $64.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $59.58.

Las Vegas Sands Stock Up 1.6 %

Las Vegas Sands stock opened at $41.93 on Thursday. 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 business has a 50 day simple moving average of $48.50 and a 200-day simple moving average of $46.92. The stock has a market capitalization of $30.40 billion, a PE ratio of 21.28, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.32 and a beta of 1.08. 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 issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The casino operator reported $0.54 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates 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, analysts anticipate that Las Vegas Sands Corp. will post 2.63 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Las Vegas Sands Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, February 19th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 10th will be paid a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, February 10th. This is a positive change from Las Vegas Sands’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.38%. Las Vegas Sands’s payout ratio is currently 40.61%.

About Las Vegas Sands

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.