Ossiam Cuts Stock Position in Las Vegas Sands Corp. (NYSE:LVS)

Ossiam lessened its position in Las Vegas Sands Corp. (NYSE:LVS - Free Report) by 33.0% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 33,282 shares of the casino operator's stock after selling 16,427 shares during the period. Ossiam's holdings in Las Vegas Sands were worth $1,709,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in LVS. Capital Research Global Investors increased its holdings in shares of Las Vegas Sands by 26.5% in the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 58,824,289 shares of the casino operator's stock worth $3,021,205,000 after buying an additional 12,304,533 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Las Vegas Sands during the 4th quarter valued at $216,571,000. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC lifted its position in Las Vegas Sands by 29.8% in 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 buying an additional 2,152,829 shares during the last quarter. ARGA Investment Management LP boosted its stake in Las Vegas Sands by 32.0% during the fourth quarter. ARGA Investment Management LP now owns 6,501,382 shares of the casino operator's stock worth $333,911,000 after buying an additional 1,577,042 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its position in Las Vegas Sands by 13.5% during the fourth 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 last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 39.16% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts recently weighed in on LVS shares. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on Las Vegas Sands from $47.00 to $45.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 16th. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Las Vegas Sands from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $60.00 to $69.00 in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. Macquarie dropped their target price on shares of Las Vegas Sands from $58.00 to $52.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered their price objective on shares of Las Vegas Sands from $66.00 to $62.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. Finally, Mizuho set a $47.00 target price on Las Vegas Sands in a research report on Thursday. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Las Vegas Sands currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $56.75.

Las Vegas Sands Trading Down 2.0 %

Shares of NYSE LVS traded down $0.74 during trading on Friday, hitting $35.87. 6,977,093 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 6,190,196. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.35, a quick ratio of 0.73 and a current ratio of 0.74. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $39.43 and a 200-day moving average price of $46.01. Las Vegas Sands Corp. has a 12-month low of $30.18 and a 12-month high of $56.60. The firm has a market capitalization of $25.35 billion, a PE ratio of 18.21, a P/E/G ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 0.99.

Las Vegas Sands (NYSE:LVS - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 23rd. The casino operator reported $0.59 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.60 by ($0.01). The business 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%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.78 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Las Vegas Sands Corp. will post 2.6 EPS for the current year.

Las Vegas Sands Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 14th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, May 6th will be given a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.79%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, May 6th. Las Vegas Sands's dividend payout ratio is presently 55.56%.

Las Vegas Sands announced that its board has authorized a stock buyback plan on Wednesday, April 23rd that authorizes the company to repurchase $2.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the casino operator to buy up to 8.2% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are often a sign that the company's board believes its shares are undervalued.

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.