The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company Increases Stock Position in Las Vegas Sands Corp. (NYSE:LVS)

The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company lifted its stake in Las Vegas Sands Corp. (NYSE:LVS) by 1.4% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 5,627,422 shares of the casino operator’s stock after purchasing an additional 77,807 shares during the quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company’s holdings in Las Vegas Sands were worth $283,284,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Las Vegas Sands by 13.4% in the first quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC now owns 9,494 shares of the casino operator’s stock worth $491,000 after acquiring an additional 1,125 shares during the last quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. boosted its stake in Las Vegas Sands by 47.6% in the 1st quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 4,590 shares of the casino operator’s stock worth $238,000 after purchasing an additional 1,480 shares in the last quarter. Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado grew its position in Las Vegas Sands by 2.1% during the 1st quarter. Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado now owns 53,216 shares of the casino operator’s stock valued at $2,751,000 after purchasing an additional 1,106 shares during the last quarter. Redwood Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in Las Vegas Sands during the 1st quarter valued at about $1,513,000. Finally, Tidal Investments LLC raised its holdings in Las Vegas Sands by 19.0% in the 1st quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 17,103 shares of the casino operator’s stock worth $884,000 after acquiring an additional 2,736 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 39.16% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have commented on the company. Susquehanna increased their target price on Las Vegas Sands from $51.00 to $59.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Barclays lifted their price objective on Las Vegas Sands from $52.00 to $58.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Mizuho lifted their price target on shares of Las Vegas Sands from $52.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of Las Vegas Sands from $49.00 to $50.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on shares of Las Vegas Sands from $50.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Las Vegas Sands presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $58.00.

Las Vegas Sands Trading Up 2.7 %

NYSE:LVS opened at $51.41 on Tuesday. Las Vegas Sands Corp. has a one year low of $36.62 and a one year high of $55.65. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $49.95 and a 200-day moving average price of $44.87. The firm has a market capitalization of $37.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.45, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.32 and a beta of 1.11. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.09, a current ratio of 0.90 and a quick ratio of 0.89.

Las Vegas Sands (NYSE:LVS) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The casino operator reported $0.44 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.53 by ($0.09). Las Vegas Sands had a net margin of 13.29% and a return on equity of 44.26%. The company had revenue of $2.68 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.79 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.55 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 4.0% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts forecast that Las Vegas Sands Corp. will post 2.33 EPS for the current year.

Las Vegas Sands Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 13th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, November 5th were paid a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.56%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, November 5th. Las Vegas Sands’s payout ratio is 39.60%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Robert G. Goldstein sold 24,324 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $52.00, for a total value of $1,264,848.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 60,187 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,129,724. This represents a 28.78 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 1.20% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

About Las Vegas Sands

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.