Bridgewater Associates LP Raises Stake in Las Vegas Sands Corp. (NYSE:LVS)

Bridgewater Associates LP increased its holdings in shares of Las Vegas Sands Corp. (NYSE:LVS - Free Report) by 33.9% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 356,761 shares of the casino operator's stock after purchasing an additional 90,285 shares during the period. Bridgewater Associates LP's holdings in Las Vegas Sands were worth $17,959,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company increased its stake in Las Vegas Sands by 1.4% in the third quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 5,627,422 shares of the casino operator's stock valued at $283,284,000 after purchasing an additional 77,807 shares in the last quarter. Horizon Kinetics Asset Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Las Vegas Sands by 22.4% in the 3rd quarter. Horizon Kinetics Asset Management LLC now owns 60,295 shares of the casino operator's stock valued at $3,035,000 after buying an additional 11,023 shares during the period. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. increased its position in Las Vegas Sands by 12.5% in the 3rd quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 49,368 shares of the casino operator's stock valued at $2,485,000 after buying an additional 5,495 shares in the last quarter. GM Advisory Group LLC raised its stake in Las Vegas Sands by 81.6% during the 3rd quarter. GM Advisory Group LLC now owns 9,081 shares of the casino operator's stock worth $457,000 after buying an additional 4,081 shares during the period. Finally, Raymond James Trust N.A. boosted its holdings in Las Vegas Sands by 4.7% in the third quarter. Raymond James Trust N.A. now owns 5,062 shares of the casino operator's stock worth $255,000 after acquiring an additional 229 shares in the last quarter. 39.16% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Robert G. Goldstein sold 119,221 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $53.73, for a total value of $6,405,744.33. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 84,511 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,540,776.03. The trade was a 58.52 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders own 0.91% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently commented on LVS. Susquehanna boosted their price objective on Las Vegas Sands from $51.00 to $59.00 and gave the company a "positive" rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of Las Vegas Sands from $50.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Argus cut shares of Las Vegas Sands from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, August 15th. Barclays upped their target price on shares of Las Vegas Sands from $52.00 to $58.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on Las Vegas Sands from $53.00 to $60.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Las Vegas Sands presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $58.00.

Las Vegas Sands Stock Performance

NYSE LVS traded up $0.50 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $51.42. 3,123,467 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 5,755,561. The stock has a market capitalization of $37.28 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.46, a P/E/G ratio of 1.35 and a beta of 1.11. The company has a quick ratio of 0.89, a current ratio of 0.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.09. Las Vegas Sands Corp. has a 1 year low of $36.62 and a 1 year high of $55.65. The business's 50 day simple moving average is $50.54 and its 200-day simple moving average is $44.99.

Las Vegas Sands (NYSE:LVS - Get Free Report) last issued 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 return on equity of 44.26% and a net margin of 13.29%. The company had revenue of $2.68 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.79 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.55 EPS. The company's revenue for the quarter was down 4.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts expect that Las Vegas Sands Corp. will post 2.33 earnings per share for the current year.

Las Vegas Sands Dividend Announcement

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

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.