HighTower Advisors LLC Boosts Stake in Las Vegas Sands Corp. (NYSE:LVS)

HighTower Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Las Vegas Sands Corp. (NYSE:LVS) by 113.2% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 385,354 shares of the casino operator’s stock after buying an additional 204,564 shares during the period. HighTower Advisors LLC’s holdings in Las Vegas Sands were worth $19,792,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Las Vegas Sands by 4.9% during the fourth quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 51,799 shares of the casino operator’s stock worth $2,661,000 after buying an additional 2,431 shares during the period. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank lifted its position in Las Vegas Sands by 2.8% in the fourth quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 231,214 shares of the casino operator’s stock valued at $11,875,000 after purchasing an additional 6,287 shares during the period. Amundi lifted its position in Las Vegas Sands by 40.3% in the fourth quarter. Amundi now owns 1,167,544 shares of the casino operator’s stock valued at $57,385,000 after purchasing an additional 335,180 shares during the period. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. lifted its position in Las Vegas Sands by 6.4% in the fourth quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 28,908 shares of the casino operator’s stock valued at $1,485,000 after purchasing an additional 1,737 shares during the period. Finally, E Fund Management Co. Ltd. lifted its position in Las Vegas Sands by 4.7% in the fourth quarter. E Fund Management Co. Ltd. now owns 5,595 shares of the casino operator’s stock valued at $287,000 after purchasing an additional 250 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 39.16% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

LVS has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Barclays reduced their price objective on shares of Las Vegas Sands from $61.00 to $58.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. Citigroup increased their target price on shares of Las Vegas Sands from $64.50 to $67.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Macquarie increased their target price on shares of Las Vegas Sands from $57.00 to $58.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Las Vegas Sands from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their target price for the company from $60.00 to $69.00 in a report on Friday, January 3rd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on shares of Las Vegas Sands from $60.00 to $59.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $59.42.

Las Vegas Sands Stock Up 0.8 %

LVS stock opened at $43.11 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $30.87 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.88, a PEG ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 1.07. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.35, a quick ratio of 0.73 and a current ratio of 0.74. Las Vegas Sands Corp. has a one year low of $36.62 and a one year high of $56.61. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $44.64 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $47.59.

Las Vegas Sands (NYSE:LVS) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The casino operator reported $0.54 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.58 by ($0.04). Las Vegas Sands had a return on equity of 45.82% and a net margin of 12.80%. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Las Vegas Sands Corp. will post 2.6 EPS for the current year.

Las Vegas Sands Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, February 19th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 10th were issued a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.32%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 10th. This is a positive change from Las Vegas Sands’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. Las Vegas Sands’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 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.