Empowered Funds LLC Acquires 213 Shares of Las Vegas Sands Corp. (NYSE:LVS)

Empowered Funds LLC grew its stake in shares of Las Vegas Sands Corp. (NYSE:LVS) by 3.6% during the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 6,050 shares of the casino operator’s stock after buying an additional 213 shares during the quarter. Empowered Funds LLC’s holdings in Las Vegas Sands were worth $305,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of LVS. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC increased its stake in Las Vegas Sands by 13.4% in the 1st quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC now owns 9,494 shares of the casino operator’s stock worth $491,000 after purchasing an additional 1,125 shares during the period. Bessemer Group Inc. raised its holdings in Las Vegas Sands by 47.6% during the 1st quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 4,590 shares of the casino operator’s stock valued at $238,000 after buying an additional 1,480 shares during the last quarter. Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado raised its holdings in Las Vegas Sands by 2.1% during the 1st quarter. Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado now owns 53,216 shares of the casino operator’s stock valued at $2,751,000 after buying an additional 1,106 shares during the last quarter. Redwood Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in Las Vegas Sands during the 1st quarter valued at $1,513,000. Finally, Tidal Investments LLC grew its holdings in Las Vegas Sands by 19.0% in the 1st quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 17,103 shares of the casino operator’s stock worth $884,000 after acquiring an additional 2,736 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 39.16% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Robert G. Goldstein sold 119,221 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $53.73, for a total value of $6,405,744.33. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 84,511 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,540,776.03. This represents a 58.52 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Corporate insiders own 1.20% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on LVS. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on shares of Las Vegas Sands from $50.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on Las Vegas Sands from $53.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 15th. Barclays lifted their price objective on Las Vegas Sands from $52.00 to $58.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. UBS Group upped their target price on Las Vegas Sands from $49.00 to $50.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of Las Vegas Sands from $53.00 to $60.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 1st. Four equities research 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 presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $58.00.

Las Vegas Sands Trading Up 2.7 %

Shares of NYSE LVS opened at $51.41 on Tuesday. Las Vegas Sands Corp. has a 1 year low of $36.62 and a 1 year high of $55.65. 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 firm has a 50-day moving average of $49.95 and a 200 day moving average of $44.87. The stock has a market cap of $37.27 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.45, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.32 and a beta of 1.11.

Las Vegas Sands (NYSE:LVS) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The casino operator reported $0.44 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.53 by ($0.09). The business had revenue of $2.68 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.79 billion. Las Vegas Sands had a net margin of 13.29% and a return on equity of 44.26%. Las Vegas Sands’s revenue for the quarter was down 4.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.55 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Las Vegas Sands Corp. will post 2.33 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Las Vegas Sands Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 13th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, November 5th were paid a $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, November 5th. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.56%. Las Vegas Sands’s dividend payout ratio is currently 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.