Merit Financial Group LLC Acquires New Stake in Las Vegas Sands Corp. (NYSE:LVS)

Merit Financial Group LLC bought a new position in Las Vegas Sands Corp. (NYSE:LVS) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund bought 5,674 shares of the casino operator’s stock, valued at approximately $291,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of LVS. Empowered Funds LLC raised its position in shares of Las Vegas Sands by 3.6% in the 3rd quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 6,050 shares of the casino operator’s stock worth $305,000 after purchasing an additional 213 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Trust N.A. raised its holdings in Las Vegas Sands by 4.7% in the third quarter. Raymond James Trust N.A. now owns 5,062 shares of the casino operator’s stock worth $255,000 after buying an additional 229 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its stake in shares of Las Vegas Sands by 40.1% in the third quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 849 shares of the casino operator’s stock worth $43,000 after buying an additional 243 shares in the last quarter. Signaturefd LLC grew its holdings in shares of Las Vegas Sands by 7.8% during the third quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 3,510 shares of the casino operator’s stock valued at $177,000 after buying an additional 253 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Waldron Private Wealth LLC increased its position in shares of Las Vegas Sands by 2.2% during the third quarter. Waldron Private Wealth LLC now owns 12,466 shares of the casino operator’s stock valued at $628,000 after acquiring an additional 268 shares in the last quarter. 39.16% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Las Vegas Sands Stock Up 0.0 %

Shares of LVS stock opened at $43.46 on Friday. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $50.30 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $46.64. The stock has a market cap of $31.51 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.51, a P/E/G ratio of 1.00 and a beta of 1.09. Las Vegas Sands Corp. has a 12 month low of $36.62 and a 12 month high of $56.60. The company has a current ratio of 0.90, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.09.

Las Vegas Sands (NYSE:LVS) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 23rd. The casino operator reported $0.44 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.53 by ($0.09). The company had revenue of $2.68 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.79 billion. Las Vegas Sands had a return on equity of 44.26% and a net margin of 13.29%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 4.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.55 earnings per share. On average, research analysts expect that Las Vegas Sands Corp. will post 2.36 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

LVS has been the topic of several analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group raised Las Vegas Sands from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $60.00 to $69.00 in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. UBS Group upped their price target on Las Vegas Sands from $49.00 to $50.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. Mizuho lifted their price objective on Las Vegas Sands from $52.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Morgan Stanley reissued an “equal weight” rating and issued a $51.00 target price (down previously from $54.00) on shares of Las Vegas Sands in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of Las Vegas Sands from $60.00 to $62.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, December 13th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $59.92.

Insider Buying and Selling at Las Vegas Sands

In other Las Vegas Sands news, CEO Robert G. Goldstein sold 60,187 shares of Las Vegas Sands stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $53.02, for a total transaction of $3,191,114.74. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Robert G. Goldstein sold 119,221 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $53.73, for a total transaction of $6,405,744.33. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 84,511 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,540,776.03. The trade was a 58.52 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 203,732 shares of company stock valued at $10,861,707. Company insiders own 0.91% of the company’s stock.

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.