US Bancorp DE Grows Stock Holdings in Las Vegas Sands Corp. $LVS

US Bancorp DE lifted its position in Las Vegas Sands Corp. (NYSE:LVS) by 9.1% during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 144,809 shares of the casino operator’s stock after buying an additional 12,119 shares during the quarter. US Bancorp DE’s holdings in Las Vegas Sands were worth $7,789,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in Las Vegas Sands by 4.4% during the second quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 43,072,014 shares of the casino operator’s stock worth $1,874,063,000 after purchasing an additional 1,822,806 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of Las Vegas Sands by 4.9% in the second quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 9,902,619 shares of the casino operator’s stock valued at $430,863,000 after purchasing an additional 459,821 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Las Vegas Sands by 0.4% during the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 8,823,966 shares of the casino operator’s stock worth $382,294,000 after buying an additional 31,153 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Las Vegas Sands during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $134,179,000. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Las Vegas Sands by 116.7% in the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 1,713,498 shares of the casino operator’s stock valued at $74,272,000 after buying an additional 922,738 shares during the period. 39.16% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

LVS has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. HSBC lifted their target price on Las Vegas Sands from $67.50 to $73.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 29th. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their price objective on Las Vegas Sands from $78.00 to $72.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 30th. Argus cut their target price on shares of Las Vegas Sands from $80.00 to $60.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 30th. Citigroup lifted their price target on shares of Las Vegas Sands from $75.50 to $76.75 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 11th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price target on shares of Las Vegas Sands from $76.00 to $77.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 29th. Twelve analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $68.55.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, major shareholder Miriam Adelson sold 77,991 shares of Las Vegas Sands stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $67.56, for a total transaction of $5,269,071.96. Following the sale, the insider owned 23,333,441 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,576,407,273.96. The trade was a 0.33% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Robert G. Goldstein sold 1,198,650 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, December 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $66.68, for a total value of $79,925,982.00. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 2,630,946 shares of company stock valued at $175,735,901. 1.20% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Las Vegas Sands Stock Performance

Shares of Las Vegas Sands stock opened at $56.67 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.13, a current ratio of 1.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 7.58. Las Vegas Sands Corp. has a 52 week low of $30.18 and a 52 week high of $70.45. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $59.81 and its two-hundred day moving average is $58.93. The firm has a market capitalization of $38.08 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.22, a P/E/G ratio of 1.45 and a beta of 0.88.

Las Vegas Sands (NYSE:LVS) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, January 28th. The casino operator reported $0.85 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.77 by $0.08. The business had revenue of $3.65 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.33 billion. Las Vegas Sands had a net margin of 12.50% and a return on equity of 91.40%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 26.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.54 EPS. Research analysts forecast that Las Vegas Sands Corp. will post 2.6 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Las Vegas Sands Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, February 18th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 9th were paid a $0.30 dividend. This is a boost from Las Vegas Sands’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.1%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 9th. Las Vegas Sands’s payout ratio is currently 51.28%.

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.