Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. Sells 937 Shares of Las Vegas Sands Corp. (NYSE:LVS)

Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. cut its position in Las Vegas Sands Corp. (NYSE:LVS) by 30.5% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 2,135 shares of the casino operator’s stock after selling 937 shares during the period. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc.’s holdings in Las Vegas Sands were worth $110,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Proficio Capital Partners LLC bought a new stake in Las Vegas Sands in the 4th quarter valued at about $1,889,000. M&T Bank Corp increased its stake in shares of Las Vegas Sands by 6.3% in the fourth quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 16,054 shares of the casino operator’s stock worth $824,000 after purchasing an additional 955 shares in the last quarter. Assetmark Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Las Vegas Sands by 9.7% during the 4th quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 143,209 shares of the casino operator’s stock valued at $7,355,000 after buying an additional 12,690 shares in the last quarter. Cookson Peirce & Co. Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Las Vegas Sands during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $539,000. Finally, Keybank National Association OH boosted its holdings in Las Vegas Sands by 7.4% in the 4th quarter. Keybank National Association OH now owns 9,348 shares of the casino operator’s stock worth $480,000 after buying an additional 645 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 39.16% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have issued reports on LVS. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on shares of Las Vegas Sands from $62.00 to $61.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded Las Vegas Sands from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $60.00 to $69.00 in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on Las Vegas Sands from $60.00 to $59.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Citigroup upped their price target on Las Vegas Sands from $64.50 to $67.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on shares of Las Vegas Sands from $51.00 to $49.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, February 24th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $59.42.

Las Vegas Sands Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:LVS opened at $44.99 on Monday. Las Vegas Sands Corp. has a one year low of $36.62 and a one year high of $56.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.35, a current ratio of 0.74 and a quick ratio of 0.73. The firm has a market capitalization of $32.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.84, a PEG ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 1.07. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $45.34 and its 200-day moving average price is $47.53.

Las Vegas Sands (NYSE:LVS) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The casino operator reported $0.54 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.58 by ($0.04). Las Vegas Sands had a net margin of 12.80% and a return on equity of 45.82%. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Las Vegas Sands Corp. will post 2.6 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Las Vegas Sands Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, February 19th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 10th were paid a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 10th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.22%. This is a positive change from Las Vegas Sands’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. Las Vegas Sands’s dividend payout ratio is currently 50.76%.

Las Vegas Sands Company Profile

Las Vegas Sands Corp., together with its subsidiaries, develops, owns, and operates integrated resorts in Macao and Singapore. It owns and operates The Venetian Macao Resort Hotel, the Londoner Macao, The Parisian Macao, The Plaza Macao and Four Seasons Hotel Macao, Cotai Strip, and the Sands Macao in Macao, the People’s Republic of China; and Marina Bay Sands in Singapore.