Las Vegas Sands Corp. (NYSE:LVS) Shares Sold by Ninety One UK Ltd

Ninety One UK Ltd lowered its position in Las Vegas Sands Corp. (NYSE:LVS - Free Report) by 10.9% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 53,201 shares of the casino operator's stock after selling 6,484 shares during the period. Ninety One UK Ltd's holdings in Las Vegas Sands were worth $2,732,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of LVS. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB acquired a new position in shares of Las Vegas Sands during the third quarter worth $26,000. CVA Family Office LLC raised its stake in Las Vegas Sands by 118.8% in the third quarter. CVA Family Office LLC now owns 560 shares of the casino operator's stock valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 304 shares during the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. grew its stake in shares of Las Vegas Sands by 73.5% during the fourth quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 583 shares of the casino operator's stock worth $30,000 after acquiring an additional 247 shares during the last quarter. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC acquired a new position in shares of Las Vegas Sands during the third quarter valued at about $34,000. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC raised its holdings 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 buying an additional 243 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 39.16% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Las Vegas Sands

In other Las Vegas Sands news, CEO Robert G. Goldstein sold 60,187 shares of the firm'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 transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.91% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Las Vegas Sands Price Performance

Shares of NYSE LVS traded up $0.68 during trading on Friday, hitting $43.00. The company had a trading volume of 9,401,342 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,415,669. The firm has a market capitalization of $31.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.83, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.32 and a beta of 1.08. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $49.02 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $46.84. 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 fifty-two week low of $36.62 and a fifty-two week high of $56.60.

Las Vegas Sands (NYSE:LVS - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The casino operator reported $0.54 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.58 by ($0.04). Las Vegas Sands had a return on equity of 43.76% and a net margin of 12.80%. On average, research analysts expect that Las Vegas Sands Corp. will post 2.63 earnings per share for the current year.

Las Vegas Sands Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, February 19th. Investors of record on Monday, February 10th will be paid a $0.25 dividend. This is an increase from Las Vegas Sands's previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.33%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, February 10th. Las Vegas Sands's dividend payout ratio is currently 40.61%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently commented on LVS. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an "equal weight" rating and set a $51.00 target price (down previously from $54.00) on shares of Las Vegas Sands in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. UBS Group boosted 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 report on Tuesday, November 5th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on Las Vegas Sands from $60.00 to $59.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Jefferies Financial Group raised Las Vegas Sands from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $60.00 to $69.00 in a report on Friday, January 3rd. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on Las Vegas Sands from $55.00 to $64.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a 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. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $59.58.

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.