Las Vegas Sands Corp. $LVS Shares Bought by Madison Asset Management LLC

Madison Asset Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Las Vegas Sands Corp. (NYSE:LVS) by 108.3% during the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 162,500 shares of the casino operator’s stock after buying an additional 84,500 shares during the period. Madison Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Las Vegas Sands were worth $8,756,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Mackenzie Financial Corp raised its holdings in Las Vegas Sands by 0.3% during the third quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 53,945 shares of the casino operator’s stock worth $2,902,000 after purchasing an additional 156 shares in the last quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Las Vegas Sands by 7.8% during the 3rd quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 2,449 shares of the casino operator’s stock valued at $132,000 after purchasing an additional 177 shares in the last quarter. &PARTNERS boosted its stake in Las Vegas Sands by 3.2% during the 4th quarter. &PARTNERS now owns 6,930 shares of the casino operator’s stock valued at $453,000 after purchasing an additional 214 shares in the last quarter. United Capital Financial Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Las Vegas Sands by 5.5% during the 3rd quarter. United Capital Financial Advisors LLC now owns 4,945 shares of the casino operator’s stock valued at $266,000 after purchasing an additional 258 shares during the period. Finally, Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC increased its position in shares of Las Vegas Sands by 4.2% during the 4th quarter. Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC now owns 6,859 shares of the casino operator’s stock valued at $446,000 after purchasing an additional 279 shares during the period. 39.16% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Las Vegas Sands Trading Down 0.8%

NYSE:LVS opened at $45.43 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $30.10 billion, a PE ratio of 16.82, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.04 and a beta of 0.83. Las Vegas Sands Corp. has a fifty-two week low of $44.22 and a fifty-two week high of $70.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.64, a current ratio of 0.92 and a quick ratio of 0.91. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $48.55 and its two-hundred day moving average is $53.54.

Las Vegas Sands (NYSE:LVS) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 22nd. The casino operator reported $0.91 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.76 by $0.15. Las Vegas Sands had a net margin of 13.41% and a return on equity of 118.27%. The company had revenue of $3.58 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.32 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.59 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 25.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Las Vegas Sands Corp. will post 3.37 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price target on shares of Las Vegas Sands from $72.00 to $74.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, April 23rd. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price objective on shares of Las Vegas Sands from $73.00 to $63.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, July 15th. Barclays dropped their target price on shares of Las Vegas Sands from $65.00 to $63.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, July 9th. Jefferies Financial Group increased their target price 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. Finally, Weiss Ratings cut shares of Las Vegas Sands from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 26th. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $65.31.

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.