45,000 Shares in Las Vegas Sands Corp. (NYSE:LVS) Bought by Orvieto Partners L.P.

Orvieto Partners L.P. bought a new stake in shares of Las Vegas Sands Corp. (NYSE:LVS - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 45,000 shares of the casino operator's stock, valued at approximately $2,311,000. Las Vegas Sands makes up approximately 1.9% of Orvieto Partners L.P.'s investment portfolio, making the stock its 21st largest holding.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. boosted its position in shares of Las Vegas Sands by 32.2% during the 4th quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 32,948 shares of the casino operator's stock valued at $1,707,000 after purchasing an additional 8,032 shares in the last quarter. ARGA Investment Management LP boosted its position in shares of Las Vegas Sands by 32.0% during the 4th quarter. ARGA Investment Management LP now owns 6,501,382 shares of the casino operator's stock valued at $333,911,000 after purchasing an additional 1,577,042 shares in the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC boosted its position in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 160,711 shares in the last quarter. Polymer Capital Management HK LTD bought a new stake in shares of Las Vegas Sands during the 4th quarter valued at about $2,311,000. Finally, World Equity Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Las Vegas Sands by 82.9% during the 4th quarter. World Equity Group Inc. now owns 25,602 shares of the casino operator's stock valued at $1,315,000 after purchasing an additional 11,602 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 39.16% of the company's stock.

Las Vegas Sands Stock Performance

LVS stock traded up $0.12 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $36.01. 5,844,442 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 6,061,917. The stock's 50-day moving average is $39.27 and its 200 day moving average is $45.82. 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 stock has a market cap of $25.45 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.28, a PEG ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 0.99. 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 announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 23rd. The casino operator reported $0.59 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.60 by ($0.01). The firm had revenue of $2.86 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.95 billion. Las Vegas Sands had a return on equity of 45.82% and a net margin of 12.80%. The business's revenue for the quarter was down 3.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.78 earnings per share. As a group, analysts anticipate that Las Vegas Sands Corp. will post 2.6 EPS for the current year.

Las Vegas Sands Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 14th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, May 6th will be paid a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, May 6th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.78%. Las Vegas Sands's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 55.56%.

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

LVS has been the topic of a number of research reports. Stifel Nicolaus set a $57.00 price target on Las Vegas Sands and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target 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. Citigroup upped their price target on Las Vegas Sands from $64.50 to $67.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft dropped their price target 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. Finally, Macquarie dropped their price target on Las Vegas Sands from $58.00 to $52.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $56.75.

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.