Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership Increases Stock Holdings in Las Vegas Sands Corp. $LVS

Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership raised its stake in Las Vegas Sands Corp. (NYSE:LVS) by 58.4% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 8,186,257 shares of the casino operator’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,018,704 shares during the period. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership’s holdings in Las Vegas Sands were worth $532,843,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in LVS. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. increased its stake in Las Vegas Sands by 8.4% in the first quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 31,251 shares of the casino operator’s stock valued at $1,207,000 after purchasing an additional 2,418 shares during the last quarter. Woodline Partners LP increased its stake in Las Vegas Sands by 38.9% in the first quarter. Woodline Partners LP now owns 29,032 shares of the casino operator’s stock valued at $1,122,000 after purchasing an additional 8,132 shares during the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in Las Vegas Sands by 91.8% in the second quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,146 shares of the casino operator’s stock valued at $93,000 after purchasing an additional 1,027 shares during the last quarter. Flow Traders U.S. LLC purchased a new position in Las Vegas Sands in the second quarter valued at approximately $414,000. Finally, Cerity Partners LLC increased its stake in Las Vegas Sands by 70.0% in the second quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 17,595 shares of the casino operator’s stock valued at $766,000 after purchasing an additional 7,243 shares during the last quarter. 39.16% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Las Vegas Sands Price Performance

LVS stock opened at $50.70 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $33.60 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.78, a PEG ratio of 1.15 and a beta of 0.81. Las Vegas Sands Corp. has a twelve month low of $40.03 and a twelve month high of $70.45. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $52.68 and a 200-day simple moving average of $57.40. The company has a current ratio of 0.92, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.64.

Las Vegas Sands (NYSE:LVS) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 22nd. The casino operator reported $0.91 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.76 by $0.15. The business had revenue of $3.59 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.32 billion. Las Vegas Sands had a return on equity of 118.27% and a net margin of 13.41%.The company’s revenue was up 25.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.59 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Las Vegas Sands Corp. will post 3.38 EPS for the current year.

Las Vegas Sands Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 13th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, May 5th were issued a $0.30 dividend. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, May 5th. Las Vegas Sands’s dividend payout ratio is presently 44.44%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Las Vegas Sands

In other news, CEO Patrick Dumont sold 60,165 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $54.75, for a total value of $3,294,033.75. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 511,942 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $28,028,824.50. This represents a 10.52% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.55% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have commented on LVS. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price target on shares of Las Vegas Sands from $61.00 to $63.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on shares of Las Vegas Sands from $71.00 to $68.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on shares of Las Vegas Sands from $68.00 to $65.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 16th. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Las Vegas Sands from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, May 23rd. Finally, Citigroup increased their price target on shares of Las Vegas Sands from $76.75 to $78.50 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, April 13th. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $67.91.

Las Vegas Sands Profile

Las Vegas Sands (NYSE: LVS) is a global developer and operator of integrated resorts, focused on large-scale properties that combine casino gaming with hotels, convention and exhibition facilities, retail, dining, and entertainment. The company’s operations center on developing and managing full-service resort complexes that serve both leisure and business travelers, with emphasis on convention and trade-show business in addition to gaming revenue streams.

The company’s portfolio has included prominent properties in North America and Asia, most notably The Venetian Resort in Las Vegas and Marina Bay Sands in Singapore, along with a significant presence in Macau through multiple integrated resorts.