Avestar Capital LLC Takes $318,000 Position in Las Vegas Sands Corp. (NYSE:LVS)

Avestar Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of Las Vegas Sands Corp. (NYSE:LVS - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor bought 6,193 shares of the casino operator's stock, valued at approximately $318,000.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in LVS. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its position in Las Vegas Sands by 40.1% during the third quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 849 shares of the casino operator's stock worth $43,000 after buying an additional 243 shares during the period. CWM LLC increased its stake in Las Vegas Sands by 16.1% during the third quarter. CWM LLC now owns 10,338 shares of the casino operator's stock worth $520,000 after acquiring an additional 1,437 shares during the last quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. increased its stake in Las Vegas Sands by 67.6% during the third quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. now owns 38,981 shares of the casino operator's stock worth $1,962,000 after acquiring an additional 15,727 shares during the last quarter. Hengehold Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in Las Vegas Sands during the third quarter worth about $211,000. Finally, V Square Quantitative Management LLC increased its stake in Las Vegas Sands by 20.5% during the third quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC now owns 5,880 shares of the casino operator's stock worth $296,000 after acquiring an additional 1,000 shares during the last quarter. 39.16% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Robert G. Goldstein sold 60,187 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $53.02, for a total value of $3,191,114.74. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.91% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

LVS has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on Las Vegas Sands from $60.00 to $59.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on Las Vegas Sands from $62.00 to $61.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. Citigroup upped their price target on Las Vegas Sands from $64.50 to $67.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Mizuho increased their target price on Las Vegas Sands from $52.00 to $57.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price on Las Vegas Sands from $55.00 to $64.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, Las Vegas Sands has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $59.58.

Las Vegas Sands Stock Up 0.6 %

NYSE LVS traded up $0.25 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $43.62. 2,145,304 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 6,001,967. Las Vegas Sands Corp. has a 1-year low of $36.62 and a 1-year high of $56.60. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $47.56 and a 200-day simple moving average of $47.01. The company has a current ratio of 0.90, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.09. The company has a market cap of $31.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.14, a P/E/G ratio of 1.32 and a beta of 1.08.

Las Vegas Sands (NYSE:LVS - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The casino operator reported $0.54 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.58 by ($0.04). Las Vegas Sands had a net margin of 12.80% and a return on equity of 43.76%. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Las Vegas Sands Corp. will post 2.63 EPS for the current year.

Las Vegas Sands Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, February 19th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.29%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, February 10th. This is an increase from Las Vegas Sands's previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. Las Vegas Sands's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 40.61%.

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.