Waddell & Associates LLC Buys Shares of 10,451 Las Vegas Sands Corp. $LVS

Waddell & Associates LLC bought a new stake in shares of Las Vegas Sands Corp. (NYSE:LVS) in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund bought 10,451 shares of the casino operator’s stock, valued at approximately $680,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in LVS. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. increased its position in Las Vegas Sands by 8.4% during the 1st 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 period. Woodline Partners LP increased its position in Las Vegas Sands by 38.9% during the 1st 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 period. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC increased its position in Las Vegas Sands by 91.8% during the 2nd 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 period. Flow Traders U.S. LLC acquired a new stake in Las Vegas Sands during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $414,000. Finally, Cerity Partners LLC increased its position in Las Vegas Sands by 70.0% during the 2nd 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 period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 39.16% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Patrick Dumont sold 60,165 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the chief executive officer directly 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 at this link. 0.55% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Las Vegas Sands Stock Performance

Shares of LVS stock opened at $50.80 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $33.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.81, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.14 and a beta of 0.81. Las Vegas Sands Corp. has a 52 week low of $40.03 and a 52 week high of $70.45. The company has a quick ratio of 0.91, a current ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.64. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $52.84 and a 200-day moving average of $57.72.

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

Las Vegas Sands Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 13th. Investors of record on Tuesday, May 5th were issued a $0.30 dividend. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.4%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, May 5th. Las Vegas Sands’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 44.44%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have weighed in on LVS shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on shares of Las Vegas Sands from $71.00 to $68.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 23rd. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on shares of Las Vegas Sands from $67.00 to $69.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on shares of Las Vegas Sands from $68.00 to $65.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 16th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Las Vegas Sands from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, May 23rd. Finally, Seaport Research Partners reduced their price objective on shares of Las Vegas Sands from $72.00 to $69.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 21st. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $67.91.

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.