Victory Capital Management Inc. Reduces Holdings in Las Vegas Sands Corp. (NYSE:LVS)

Victory Capital Management Inc. decreased its position in shares of Las Vegas Sands Corp. (NYSE:LVS) by 3.0% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 154,482 shares of the casino operator’s stock after selling 4,819 shares during the period. Victory Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Las Vegas Sands were worth $7,934,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Fisher Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Las Vegas Sands by 1.2% in the 4th quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 13,810,351 shares of the casino operator’s stock valued at $709,300,000 after buying an additional 160,711 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Las Vegas Sands by 13.5% in the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 11,662,548 shares of the casino operator’s stock valued at $598,988,000 after buying an additional 1,389,963 shares during the period. Janus Henderson Group PLC boosted its holdings in shares of 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 valued at $459,630,000 after buying an additional 5,612,975 shares during the period. ARGA Investment Management LP boosted its holdings 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 valued at $333,911,000 after buying an additional 1,577,042 shares during the period. Finally, The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company boosted its holdings 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 valued at $283,284,000 after buying an additional 77,807 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 39.16% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have issued reports on LVS. Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on shares of Las Vegas Sands from $51.00 to $49.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, February 24th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reduced their target price on shares of Las Vegas Sands from $66.00 to $62.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. Barclays reduced their target price on shares of Las Vegas Sands from $61.00 to $58.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. Macquarie boosted their target price on shares of Las Vegas Sands from $57.00 to $58.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. Finally, Citigroup boosted their target price on shares of Las Vegas Sands from $64.50 to $67.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $59.42.

Las Vegas Sands Stock Performance

Shares of LVS stock opened at $43.11 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.35, a quick ratio of 0.73 and a current ratio of 0.74. The company has a market capitalization of $30.87 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.88, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 1.07. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $44.64 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $47.54. Las Vegas Sands Corp. has a 52 week low of $36.62 and a 52 week high of $56.61.

Las Vegas Sands (NYSE:LVS) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The casino operator reported $0.54 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.58 by ($0.04). Las Vegas Sands had a return on equity of 45.82% and a net margin of 12.80%. On average, analysts expect that Las Vegas Sands Corp. will post 2.6 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Las Vegas Sands Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, February 19th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 10th were issued a $0.25 dividend. This is an increase from Las Vegas Sands’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.32%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 10th. Las Vegas Sands’s payout ratio is currently 50.76%.

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.