Las Vegas Sands Corp. (NYSE:LVS) Shares Bought by HighTower Advisors LLC

HighTower Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Las Vegas Sands Corp. (NYSE:LVS - Free Report) by 192.4% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 180,790 shares of the casino operator's stock after purchasing an additional 118,958 shares during the quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC's holdings in Las Vegas Sands were worth $9,172,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Holocene Advisors LP acquired a new position in Las Vegas Sands during the third quarter valued at approximately $10,212,000. ArrowMark Colorado Holdings LLC lifted its position in Las Vegas Sands by 88.4% during the third quarter. ArrowMark Colorado Holdings LLC now owns 409,225 shares of the casino operator's stock valued at $20,600,000 after buying an additional 192,025 shares in the last quarter. Bamco Inc. NY lifted its position in Las Vegas Sands by 29.2% during the third quarter. Bamco Inc. NY now owns 1,581,075 shares of the casino operator's stock valued at $79,591,000 after buying an additional 357,234 shares in the last quarter. ARGA Investment Management LP lifted its position in Las Vegas Sands by 24.8% during the third quarter. ARGA Investment Management LP now owns 4,924,340 shares of the casino operator's stock valued at $247,891,000 after buying an additional 977,636 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fred Alger Management LLC acquired a new position in Las Vegas Sands during the third quarter valued at approximately $10,219,000. 39.16% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Las Vegas Sands

In related news, CEO Robert G. Goldstein sold 60,187 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $53.02, for a total value of $3,191,114.74. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Robert G. Goldstein sold 119,221 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $53.73, for a total transaction of $6,405,744.33. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 84,511 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,540,776.03. The trade was a 58.52 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 203,732 shares of company stock worth $10,861,707. Insiders own 0.91% of the company's stock.

Las Vegas Sands Stock Performance

LVS stock traded up $1.18 during trading on Monday, hitting $55.17. 5,326,061 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 5,717,714. 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 52 week low of $36.62 and a 52 week high of $56.60. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $51.67 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $45.36. The stock has a market capitalization of $40.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.31, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.44 and a beta of 1.10.

Las Vegas Sands (NYSE:LVS - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The casino operator reported $0.44 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.53 by ($0.09). The business had revenue of $2.68 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.79 billion. Las Vegas Sands had a net margin of 13.29% and a return on equity of 44.26%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was down 4.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.55 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Las Vegas Sands Corp. will post 2.33 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Las Vegas Sands Announces Dividend

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 of this dividend was Tuesday, November 5th. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.45%. Las Vegas Sands's dividend payout ratio is currently 39.60%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have weighed in on LVS. Mizuho lifted their price target on shares of Las Vegas Sands from $52.00 to $57.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Las Vegas Sands from $52.00 to $58.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of Las Vegas Sands from $53.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 15th. Argus cut shares of Las Vegas Sands from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, August 15th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on shares of Las Vegas Sands from $55.00 to $64.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $58.00.

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.