Long Focus Capital Management LLC Sells 46,000 Shares of Las Vegas Sands Corp. (NYSE:LVS)

Long Focus Capital Management LLC cut its position in shares of Las Vegas Sands Corp. (NYSE:LVS - Free Report) by 14.6% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 268,000 shares of the casino operator's stock after selling 46,000 shares during the quarter. Long Focus Capital Management LLC's holdings in Las Vegas Sands were worth $13,764,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in LVS. Capital Research Global Investors boosted its holdings in shares of Las Vegas Sands by 26.5% during the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 58,824,289 shares of the casino operator's stock valued at $3,021,205,000 after buying an additional 12,304,533 shares in the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC lifted its position in 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 acquiring an additional 160,711 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its position in Las Vegas Sands by 13.5% during the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 11,662,548 shares of the casino operator's stock valued at $598,988,000 after acquiring an additional 1,389,963 shares during the period. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC boosted its stake in Las Vegas Sands by 29.8% during the fourth quarter. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC now owns 9,382,267 shares of the casino operator's stock worth $481,873,000 after acquiring an additional 2,152,829 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Las Vegas Sands by 0.9% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 8,637,600 shares of the casino operator's stock worth $443,086,000 after purchasing an additional 80,709 shares during the period. 39.16% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

LVS has been the subject of several recent research reports. Citigroup lifted their target price on shares of Las Vegas Sands from $64.50 to $67.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Mizuho set a $47.00 target price on Las Vegas Sands in a report on Thursday. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on Las Vegas Sands from $60.00 to $59.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered 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, Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Las Vegas Sands from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and upped their price target for the stock from $60.00 to $69.00 in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Las Vegas Sands presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $56.75.

Las Vegas Sands Stock Performance

NYSE:LVS traded down $0.74 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $35.87. The company had a trading volume of 6,977,424 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,058,270. The firm 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 current ratio of 0.74, a quick ratio of 0.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.35. The firm's 50 day moving average price is $39.27 and its 200-day moving average price is $45.90. Las Vegas Sands Corp. has a 52 week low of $30.18 and a 52 week high of $56.61.

Las Vegas Sands (NYSE:LVS - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.95 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.78 EPS. On average, analysts forecast that Las Vegas Sands Corp. will post 2.6 EPS for the current year.

Las Vegas Sands announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock repurchase plan on Wednesday, April 23rd that allows the company to buyback $2.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the casino operator to purchase up to 8.2% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are usually a sign that the company's management believes its stock is undervalued.

Las Vegas Sands Dividend Announcement

The firm 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. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.79%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, May 6th. Las Vegas Sands's payout ratio is currently 55.56%.

Las Vegas Sands Company 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.