Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD Lowers Holdings in Las Vegas Sands Corp. (NYSE:LVS)

Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD cut its holdings in shares of Las Vegas Sands Corp. (NYSE:LVS - Free Report) by 1.9% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 15,130,495 shares of the casino operator's stock after selling 300,352 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD owned 2.09% of Las Vegas Sands worth $777,103,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB acquired a new position in shares of Las Vegas Sands in the 3rd quarter valued at $26,000. Bank of Jackson Hole Trust purchased a new stake in Las Vegas Sands during the 4th quarter valued at about $26,000. UMB Bank n.a. increased its holdings in shares of Las Vegas Sands by 73.5% in the fourth quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 583 shares of the casino operator's stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 247 shares during the period. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. acquired a new stake in shares of Las Vegas Sands during the fourth quarter worth about $36,000. Finally, Smartleaf Asset Management LLC boosted its position in Las Vegas Sands by 63.0% in the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 885 shares of the casino operator's stock valued at $45,000 after buying an additional 342 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 39.16% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts recently issued reports on LVS shares. Stifel Nicolaus set a $57.00 target price on shares of Las Vegas Sands and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday. Macquarie reduced their price objective on Las Vegas Sands from $58.00 to $52.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered their target price on Las Vegas Sands from $66.00 to $62.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on Las Vegas Sands from $62.00 to $61.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. Finally, Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective 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. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $56.75.

Las Vegas Sands Trading Down 2.0 %

NYSE:LVS traded down $0.74 on Friday, hitting $35.87. The stock had a trading volume of 6,977,424 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,062,794. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $39.27 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $45.86. The stock has a market cap of $25.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.21, a PEG ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 0.99. The company has a quick ratio of 0.73, a current ratio of 0.74 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.35. Las Vegas Sands Corp. has a 1-year low of $30.18 and a 1-year high of $56.61.

Las Vegas Sands (NYSE:LVS - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, April 23rd. The casino operator reported $0.59 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.60 by ($0.01). The business had revenue of $2.86 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.95 billion. Las Vegas Sands had a return on equity of 45.82% and a net margin of 12.80%. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.78 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that Las Vegas Sands Corp. will post 2.6 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Las Vegas Sands announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase plan on Wednesday, April 23rd that permits the company to repurchase $2.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the casino operator to buy up to 8.2% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are typically an indication that the company's leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Las Vegas Sands Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 14th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, May 6th will be paid a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.79%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, May 6th. Las Vegas Sands's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.