Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH Trims Stock Position in Las Vegas Sands Corp. $LVS

Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH trimmed its stake in shares of Las Vegas Sands Corp. (NYSE:LVS) by 2.0% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 1,547,277 shares of the casino operator’s stock after selling 32,228 shares during the period. Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH’s holdings in Las Vegas Sands were worth $100,712,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Invesco Ltd. increased 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 during the period. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Las Vegas Sands by 43.8% during the third quarter. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC now owns 5,454,013 shares of the casino operator’s stock worth $293,371,000 after purchasing an additional 1,660,823 shares during the period. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership grew its position in Las Vegas Sands by 410.2% in the 3rd quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 5,167,553 shares of the casino operator’s stock valued at $277,963,000 after buying an additional 4,154,753 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its position in Las Vegas Sands by 5.3% in the 3rd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,723,494 shares of the casino operator’s stock valued at $200,335,000 after buying an additional 187,389 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new position in Las Vegas Sands in the 2nd quarter valued at $134,179,000. 39.16% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have commented on LVS shares. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of Las Vegas Sands from $67.00 to $68.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 29th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Las Vegas Sands from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, February 14th. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price target on shares of Las Vegas Sands from $80.00 to $73.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 29th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of Las Vegas Sands from $70.00 to $71.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 23rd. Finally, UBS Group lifted their price objective on Las Vegas Sands from $67.00 to $68.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, December 8th. Twelve equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $68.55.

Insider Transactions at Las Vegas Sands

In other news, CEO Patrick Dumont sold 60,165 shares of Las Vegas Sands stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $54.75, for a total transaction of $3,294,033.75. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 511,942 shares in the company, valued at approximately $28,028,824.50. This trade represents a 10.52% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Company insiders own 1.20% of the company’s stock.

Las Vegas Sands Price Performance

Las Vegas Sands stock opened at $52.34 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $35.16 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.37, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.38 and a beta of 0.88. Las Vegas Sands Corp. has a one year low of $30.18 and a one year high of $70.45. The business has a fifty day moving average of $56.27 and a two-hundred day moving average of $58.74. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 7.58, a quick ratio of 1.13 and a current ratio of 1.14.

Las Vegas Sands (NYSE:LVS) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 28th. The casino operator reported $0.85 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.77 by $0.08. The business had revenue of $3.65 billion for 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 business’s revenue for the quarter was up 26.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.54 EPS. As a group, analysts predict 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 announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, February 18th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 9th were given a dividend of $0.30 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 9th. This is an increase from Las Vegas Sands’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.3%. Las Vegas Sands’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 51.28%.

About Las Vegas Sands

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.