Franklin Resources Inc. Has $6.05 Million Position in Las Vegas Sands Corp. (NYSE:LVS)

Franklin Resources Inc. grew its holdings in Las Vegas Sands Corp. (NYSE:LVS - Free Report) by 10.8% in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 115,803 shares of the casino operator's stock after purchasing an additional 11,261 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc.'s holdings in Las Vegas Sands were worth $6,053,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of LVS. Empowered Funds LLC lifted its stake in Las Vegas Sands by 3.6% in the 3rd quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 6,050 shares of the casino operator's stock worth $305,000 after acquiring an additional 213 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Trust N.A. lifted its position in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 229 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its position in shares of Las Vegas Sands by 40.1% in the third quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 849 shares of the casino operator's stock worth $43,000 after purchasing an additional 243 shares in the last quarter. Signaturefd LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Las Vegas Sands by 7.8% during the third quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 3,510 shares of the casino operator's stock worth $177,000 after purchasing an additional 253 shares during the period. Finally, Waldron Private Wealth LLC grew its position in Las Vegas Sands by 2.2% during the third quarter. Waldron Private Wealth LLC now owns 12,466 shares of the casino operator's stock valued at $628,000 after purchasing an additional 268 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 39.16% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

LVS has been the subject of a number of research reports. UBS Group lifted their target price on shares of Las Vegas Sands from $49.00 to $50.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on Las Vegas Sands from $60.00 to $62.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Susquehanna upped their target price on Las Vegas Sands from $51.00 to $59.00 and gave the stock a "positive" rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on Las Vegas Sands from $55.00 to $64.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on Las Vegas Sands from $53.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, October 1st. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $58.42.

Insider Activity

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

Las Vegas Sands Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE LVS traded down $0.59 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $51.66. 2,302,911 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 5,689,422. The firm has a market capitalization of $37.46 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.57, a P/E/G ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 1.10. Las Vegas Sands Corp. has a one year low of $36.62 and a one year high of $56.60. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.09, a current ratio of 0.90 and a quick ratio of 0.89. The company's 50 day moving average is $51.82 and its 200 day moving average is $45.91.

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 net margin of 13.29% and a return on equity of 44.26%. The business had revenue of $2.68 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.79 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.55 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was down 4.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts expect that Las Vegas Sands Corp. will post 2.33 EPS for the current year.

Las Vegas Sands Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 13th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, November 5th were issued 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 1.55%. Las Vegas Sands's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 39.60%.

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.