National Bank of Canada FI Has $7.27 Million Holdings in Las Vegas Sands Corp. (NYSE:LVS)

National Bank of Canada FI boosted its position in shares of Las Vegas Sands Corp. (NYSE:LVS - Free Report) by 41.7% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 144,330 shares of the casino operator's stock after purchasing an additional 42,492 shares during the period. National Bank of Canada FI's holdings in Las Vegas Sands were worth $7,266,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of LVS. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Las Vegas Sands by 15.7% during the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 11,351,573 shares of the casino operator's stock valued at $502,307,000 after buying an additional 1,536,754 shares during the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC raised its position in Las Vegas Sands by 159.6% during the third quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 9,130,486 shares of the casino operator's stock valued at $459,630,000 after acquiring an additional 5,612,975 shares in the last quarter. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC lifted its stake in Las Vegas Sands by 0.8% in the second quarter. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC now owns 8,500,248 shares of the casino operator's stock valued at $376,136,000 after acquiring an additional 68,568 shares during the last quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company grew its position in Las Vegas Sands by 1.4% in the third quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 5,627,422 shares of the casino operator's stock worth $283,284,000 after acquiring an additional 77,807 shares in the last quarter. Finally, ARGA Investment Management LP increased its stake in shares of Las Vegas Sands by 24.8% during the 3rd quarter. ARGA Investment Management LP now owns 4,924,340 shares of the casino operator's stock worth $247,891,000 after purchasing an additional 977,636 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 39.16% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Susquehanna lifted their price objective on shares of Las Vegas Sands from $51.00 to $59.00 and gave the company a "positive" rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price target on Las Vegas Sands from $55.00 to $64.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. UBS Group increased their price objective on Las Vegas Sands from $49.00 to $50.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on Las Vegas Sands from $53.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, October 1st. Finally, Argus downgraded Las Vegas Sands from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, August 15th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $58.00.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Las Vegas Sands news, CEO Robert G. Goldstein sold 24,324 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $52.00, for a total transaction of $1,264,848.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 60,187 shares in the company, valued at $3,129,724. This trade represents a 28.78 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Robert G. Goldstein sold 60,187 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 29th. The shares were 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. Insiders sold a total of 203,732 shares of company stock valued at $10,861,707 over the last ninety days. 0.91% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Las Vegas Sands Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:LVS traded down $0.65 on Thursday, hitting $53.80. 3,585,239 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 5,696,346. The company's 50 day moving average price is $51.79 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $45.49. The firm has a market capitalization of $39.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.96, a PEG ratio of 1.44 and a beta of 1.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.09, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a current ratio of 0.90. Las Vegas Sands Corp. has a one year low of $36.62 and a one year high of $56.60.

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). The firm 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 company's revenue was down 4.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.55 earnings per share. Research analysts expect that Las Vegas Sands Corp. will post 2.33 earnings per share for the current year.

Las Vegas Sands Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 13th. Investors of record on Tuesday, November 5th were paid a $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, November 5th. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.49%. Las Vegas Sands's payout ratio is 39.60%.

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.