Royal London Asset Management Ltd. Sells 1,386 Shares of Las Vegas Sands Corp. (NYSE:LVS)

Royal London Asset Management Ltd. trimmed its stake in Las Vegas Sands Corp. (NYSE:LVS) by 0.9% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 150,269 shares of the casino operator’s stock after selling 1,386 shares during the quarter. Royal London Asset Management Ltd.’s holdings in Las Vegas Sands were worth $7,718,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB purchased a new position in Las Vegas Sands in the third quarter valued at about $26,000. Bank of Jackson Hole Trust bought a new stake in shares of Las Vegas Sands in the 4th quarter valued at about $26,000. UMB Bank n.a. grew its position in shares of Las Vegas Sands by 73.5% in the 4th quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 583 shares of the casino operator’s stock worth $30,000 after buying an additional 247 shares during the last quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Las Vegas Sands by 63.0% during the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 885 shares of the casino operator’s stock worth $45,000 after acquiring an additional 342 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Kestra Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in Las Vegas Sands during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $47,000. 39.16% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

LVS has been the topic of several analyst reports. Citigroup lifted their price target on shares of Las Vegas Sands from $64.50 to $67.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on Las Vegas Sands from $51.00 to $49.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, February 24th. Macquarie increased their price target on Las Vegas Sands from $57.00 to $58.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on Las Vegas Sands from $62.00 to $61.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on shares of Las Vegas Sands from $60.00 to $59.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Las Vegas Sands currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $59.42.

Las Vegas Sands Stock Down 2.1 %

LVS stock opened at $41.98 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $30.05 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.31, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 1.07. Las Vegas Sands Corp. has a 12 month low of $36.62 and a 12 month high of $56.61. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $44.04 and its 200-day simple moving average is $47.80. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.35, a current ratio of 0.74 and a quick ratio of 0.73.

Las Vegas Sands (NYSE:LVS) last posted its quarterly 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 net margin of 12.80% and a return on equity of 45.82%. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Las Vegas Sands Corp. will post 2.6 earnings per share for the current year.

Las Vegas Sands Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, February 19th. Investors of record on Monday, February 10th were given a dividend of $0.25 per share. This is a boost from Las Vegas Sands’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.38%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 10th. Las Vegas Sands’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 50.76%.

Las Vegas Sands 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.