American Century Companies Inc. Acquires 89,508 Shares of Las Vegas Sands Corp. (NYSE:LVS)

American Century Companies Inc. increased its position in Las Vegas Sands Corp. (NYSE:LVS - Free Report) by 36.5% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 335,010 shares of the casino operator's stock after buying an additional 89,508 shares during the quarter. American Century Companies Inc.'s holdings in Las Vegas Sands were worth $17,206,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. boosted its holdings in Las Vegas Sands by 32.2% in the fourth quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 32,948 shares of the casino operator's stock valued at $1,707,000 after acquiring an additional 8,032 shares in the last quarter. ARGA Investment Management LP boosted its stake in shares of Las Vegas Sands by 32.0% during the 4th quarter. ARGA Investment Management LP now owns 6,501,382 shares of the casino operator's stock valued at $333,911,000 after purchasing an additional 1,577,042 shares in the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Las Vegas Sands by 1.2% during the 4th 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. World Equity Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Las Vegas Sands by 82.9% during the fourth quarter. World Equity Group Inc. now owns 25,602 shares of the casino operator's stock valued at $1,315,000 after buying an additional 11,602 shares during the period. Finally, Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd raised its stake in Las Vegas Sands by 19.9% in the fourth quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd now owns 50,087 shares of the casino operator's stock worth $2,572,000 after buying an additional 8,326 shares in the last quarter. 39.16% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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Las Vegas Sands Price Performance

Shares of NYSE LVS traded down $3.03 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $33.38. The company's stock had a trading volume of 11,363,884 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,957,860. 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 Corp. has a 52 week low of $32.74 and a 52 week high of $56.61. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $42.88 and a two-hundred day moving average of $47.66. The firm has a market capitalization of $23.90 billion, a PE ratio of 16.94, a P/E/G ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 0.99.

Las Vegas Sands (NYSE:LVS - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results 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 return on equity of 45.82% and a net margin of 12.80%. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Las Vegas Sands Corp. will post 2.6 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Las Vegas Sands Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, February 19th. Investors of record on Monday, February 10th were given a $0.25 dividend. This is an increase from Las Vegas Sands's previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.00%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 10th. Las Vegas Sands's payout ratio is currently 50.76%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have commented on LVS shares. Macquarie raised their price objective on Las Vegas Sands from $57.00 to $58.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered their price target on shares of Las Vegas Sands from $66.00 to $62.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Las Vegas Sands from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $60.00 to $69.00 in a report on Friday, January 3rd. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on shares of Las Vegas Sands from $51.00 to $49.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a report on Monday, February 24th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut 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. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Las Vegas Sands currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $59.42.

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.