Advisory Services Network LLC Takes $760,000 Position in Las Vegas Sands Corp. (NYSE:LVS)

Advisory Services Network LLC bought a new stake in shares of Las Vegas Sands Corp. (NYSE:LVS - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund bought 14,803 shares of the casino operator's stock, valued at approximately $760,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of LVS. Fisher Asset Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Las Vegas Sands by 1.2% during the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 13,810,351 shares of the casino operator's stock valued at $709,300,000 after purchasing an additional 160,711 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its stake in Las Vegas Sands by 13.5% during the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 11,662,548 shares of the casino operator's stock valued at $598,988,000 after buying an additional 1,389,963 shares during the last quarter. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC grew its stake in shares of Las Vegas Sands by 29.8% in the fourth quarter. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC now owns 9,382,267 shares of the casino operator's stock worth $481,873,000 after acquiring an additional 2,152,829 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Las Vegas Sands by 0.9% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 8,637,600 shares of the casino operator's stock valued at $443,086,000 after acquiring an additional 80,709 shares in the last quarter. Finally, ARGA Investment Management LP raised its position in shares of Las Vegas Sands by 32.0% in the 4th quarter. ARGA Investment Management LP now owns 6,501,382 shares of the casino operator's stock worth $333,911,000 after purchasing an additional 1,577,042 shares during the last quarter. 39.16% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

LVS has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on shares of Las Vegas Sands from $47.00 to $45.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target 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. Citigroup upped their price objective 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. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reduced their target price on Las Vegas Sands from $66.00 to $62.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upgraded Las Vegas Sands from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $60.00 to $69.00 in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Las Vegas Sands currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $59.08.

Las Vegas Sands Stock Performance

LVS stock traded up $0.88 during trading on Friday, reaching $32.74. The stock had a trading volume of 5,739,478 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,023,337. The stock's 50 day moving average is $40.10 and its two-hundred day moving average is $46.43. The firm has a market cap of $23.13 billion, a PE ratio of 16.62, a PEG ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 0.99. Las Vegas Sands Corp. has a 52 week low of $30.18 and a 52 week high of $56.61. The company has a current ratio of 0.74, a quick ratio of 0.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.35.

Las Vegas Sands (NYSE:LVS - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The casino operator reported $0.54 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates 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, equities analysts anticipate that Las Vegas Sands Corp. will post 2.6 earnings per share for the current year.

Las Vegas Sands Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, February 19th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 10th were given a dividend of $0.25 per share. This is an increase from Las Vegas Sands's previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 10th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.05%. Las Vegas Sands's payout ratio is presently 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.