AdvisorShares Investments LLC Sells 2,600 Shares of Las Vegas Sands Corp. (NYSE:LVS)

AdvisorShares Investments LLC cut its stake in shares of Las Vegas Sands Corp. (NYSE:LVS) by 21.8% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 9,343 shares of the casino operator’s stock after selling 2,600 shares during the period. AdvisorShares Investments LLC’s holdings in Las Vegas Sands were worth $480,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. World Investment Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Las Vegas Sands during the third quarter valued at about $1,953,000. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB purchased a new stake in Las Vegas Sands in the 3rd quarter valued at about $26,000. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its position in shares of Las Vegas Sands by 10.8% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 115,803 shares of the casino operator’s stock worth $6,053,000 after buying an additional 11,261 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Las Vegas Sands by 33.3% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 548,072 shares of the casino operator’s stock worth $27,590,000 after buying an additional 136,859 shares during the last quarter. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC grew its holdings in shares of Las Vegas Sands by 206.8% in the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,605 shares of the casino operator’s stock valued at $134,000 after acquiring an additional 1,756 shares in the last quarter. 39.16% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently commented on the company. Macquarie dropped their price target on Las Vegas Sands from $58.00 to $52.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 24th. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded Las Vegas Sands from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $60.00 to $69.00 in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. Hsbc Global Res upgraded shares of Las Vegas Sands to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. Mizuho set a $47.00 price objective on shares of Las Vegas Sands in a report on Thursday, April 24th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft dropped their target price on shares of Las Vegas Sands from $66.00 to $62.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Las Vegas Sands currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $56.75.

Las Vegas Sands Stock Up 1.4 %

LVS opened at $36.53 on Wednesday. Las Vegas Sands Corp. has a 12 month low of $30.18 and a 12 month high of $56.61. The company has a market cap of $25.81 billion, a PE ratio of 18.54, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 0.99. The company has a current ratio of 0.74, a quick ratio of 0.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.35. The company has a 50 day moving average of $38.94 and a 200 day moving average of $45.64.

Las Vegas Sands (NYSE:LVS) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 23rd. The casino operator reported $0.59 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.60 by ($0.01). Las Vegas Sands had a net margin of 12.80% and a return on equity of 45.82%. The company had revenue of $2.86 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.95 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.78 earnings per share. Las Vegas Sands’s revenue for the quarter was down 3.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Las Vegas Sands Corp. will post 2.6 EPS for the current year.

Las Vegas Sands Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 14th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, May 6th will be given a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.74%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, May 6th. Las Vegas Sands’s dividend payout ratio is presently 55.56%.

Las Vegas Sands declared that its Board of Directors has approved a stock repurchase plan on Wednesday, April 23rd that permits the company to buyback $2.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the casino operator to reacquire up to 8.2% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are usually an indication that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

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.