Las Vegas Sands Corp. (NYSE:LVS) Shares Acquired by Dimensional Fund Advisors LP

Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its position in shares of Las Vegas Sands Corp. (NYSE:LVS - Free Report) by 42.7% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 2,652,458 shares of the casino operator's stock after buying an additional 793,789 shares during the quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP owned approximately 0.37% of Las Vegas Sands worth $136,218,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in LVS. World Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Las Vegas Sands during the third quarter valued at $1,953,000. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB purchased a new position in Las Vegas Sands during the third quarter valued at $26,000. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its holdings in Las Vegas Sands by 10.8% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 115,803 shares of the casino operator's stock valued at $6,053,000 after purchasing an additional 11,261 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Las Vegas Sands by 33.3% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 548,072 shares of the casino operator's stock valued at $27,590,000 after purchasing an additional 136,859 shares in the last quarter. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its holdings in Las Vegas Sands by 206.8% during the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,605 shares of the casino operator's stock valued at $134,000 after purchasing an additional 1,756 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 39.16% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have issued reports on the stock. Hsbc Global Res raised shares of Las Vegas Sands to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Thursday. Macquarie decreased their price target on shares of Las Vegas Sands from $58.00 to $52.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on shares of 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. Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on shares of Las Vegas Sands from $47.00 to $45.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 16th. Finally, Barclays decreased their price target on shares of Las Vegas Sands from $58.00 to $53.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $56.75.

Las Vegas Sands Trading Up 0.3 %

Shares of LVS traded up $0.12 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $36.01. 5,844,542 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 6,061,917. Las Vegas Sands Corp. has a 52-week low of $30.18 and a 52-week high of $56.61. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $39.11 and a 200 day simple moving average of $45.70. The firm has a market cap of $25.45 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.28, a P/E/G ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 0.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.35, a quick ratio of 0.73 and a current ratio of 0.74.

Las Vegas Sands (NYSE:LVS - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 23rd. The casino operator reported $0.59 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.60 by ($0.01). Las Vegas Sands had a return on equity of 45.82% and a net margin of 12.80%. The firm had revenue of $2.86 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.95 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.78 earnings per share. The company's quarterly revenue was down 3.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts anticipate that Las Vegas Sands Corp. will post 2.6 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Las Vegas Sands declared that its board has approved a stock repurchase program on Wednesday, April 23rd that permits the company to buyback $2.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the casino operator to purchase up to 8.2% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are typically an indication that the company's leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Las Vegas Sands Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 14th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, May 6th will be given a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, May 6th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.78%. Las Vegas Sands's dividend payout ratio is currently 55.56%.

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.