Wealthfront Advisers LLC Grows Position in Las Vegas Sands Corp. $LVS

Wealthfront Advisers LLC raised its position in Las Vegas Sands Corp. (NYSE:LVS) by 40.6% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 67,446 shares of the casino operator’s stock after purchasing an additional 19,488 shares during the quarter. Wealthfront Advisers LLC’s holdings in Las Vegas Sands were worth $4,390,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Grove Bank & Trust purchased a new position in shares of Las Vegas Sands in the 4th quarter worth about $26,000. Westside Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Las Vegas Sands by 48.0% in the 3rd quarter. Westside Investment Management Inc. now owns 512 shares of the casino operator’s stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 166 shares during the period. Root Financial Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Las Vegas Sands in the 3rd quarter worth about $33,000. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Las Vegas Sands by 549.5% in the 3rd quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 630 shares of the casino operator’s stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 533 shares during the period. Finally, IFP Advisors Inc raised its holdings in shares of Las Vegas Sands by 182.4% in the 3rd quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 672 shares of the casino operator’s stock worth $36,000 after purchasing an additional 434 shares during the period. 39.16% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Las Vegas Sands

In other Las Vegas Sands news, CEO Patrick Dumont sold 60,165 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 17th. The stock was 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 owned 511,942 shares in the company, valued at $28,028,824.50. This trade represents a 10.52% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.55% of the company’s stock.

Las Vegas Sands Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:LVS opened at $54.65 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $36.21 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.24, a PEG ratio of 1.23 and a beta of 0.89. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.64, a quick ratio of 1.13 and a current ratio of 0.92. Las Vegas Sands Corp. has a one year low of $36.60 and a one year high of $70.45. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $54.66 and its 200 day simple moving average is $58.99.

Las Vegas Sands (NYSE:LVS) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, April 22nd. The casino operator reported $0.91 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.76 by $0.15. The business had revenue of $3.59 billion for 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% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.59 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Las Vegas Sands Corp. will post 3.35 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Las Vegas Sands Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 13th. Investors of record on Tuesday, May 5th will be issued a dividend of $0.30 per share. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.2%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, May 5th. Las Vegas Sands’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 44.44%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently commented on LVS. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on Las Vegas Sands from $71.00 to $68.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 23rd. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price objective on Las Vegas Sands from $61.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, April 23rd. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on Las Vegas Sands from $72.00 to $74.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, April 23rd. Argus dropped their target price on Las Vegas Sands from $80.00 to $60.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 30th. Finally, Citigroup raised their target price on Las Vegas Sands from $76.75 to $78.50 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, April 13th. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $68.28.

Las Vegas Sands Company 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.