The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company Buys 77,807 Shares of Las Vegas Sands Corp. (NYSE:LVS)

The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company boosted its position in shares of Las Vegas Sands Corp. (NYSE:LVS - Free Report) by 1.4% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 5,627,422 shares of the casino operator's stock after purchasing an additional 77,807 shares during the quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company owned about 0.78% of Las Vegas Sands worth $283,284,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its position in 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 purchasing an additional 1,536,754 shares during the last quarter. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC grew its position in Las Vegas Sands by 0.8% during the 2nd quarter. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC now owns 8,500,248 shares of the casino operator's stock valued at $376,136,000 after purchasing an additional 68,568 shares during the last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC grew its position in Las Vegas Sands by 44.1% during the 2nd quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 2,949,670 shares of the casino operator's stock valued at $130,523,000 after purchasing an additional 903,400 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its position in Las Vegas Sands by 30.2% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,085,045 shares of the casino operator's stock valued at $92,266,000 after purchasing an additional 483,564 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Lim Capital Ltd grew its position in Las Vegas Sands by 178.3% during the 2nd quarter. Charles Lim Capital Ltd now owns 1,600,000 shares of the casino operator's stock valued at $70,800,000 after purchasing an additional 1,025,000 shares during the last quarter. 39.16% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on LVS shares. UBS Group raised their price target on shares of Las Vegas Sands from $49.00 to $50.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target on shares of Las Vegas Sands from $55.00 to $64.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Argus downgraded shares of Las Vegas Sands from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, August 15th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of Las Vegas Sands from $53.00 to $60.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, October 1st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of Las Vegas Sands from $53.00 to $60.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, October 15th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Las Vegas Sands presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $58.00.

Las Vegas Sands Stock Performance

Shares of LVS traded down $0.49 on Tuesday, reaching $50.91. The company's stock had a trading volume of 5,794,155 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,767,031. Las Vegas Sands Corp. has a 12-month low of $36.62 and a 12-month high of $55.65. The stock has a market capitalization of $36.91 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.20, a PEG ratio of 1.32 and a beta of 1.11. The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $50.14 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $44.90. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.09, a current ratio of 0.90 and a quick ratio of 0.89.

Las Vegas Sands (NYSE:LVS - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The casino operator reported $0.44 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.53 by ($0.09). Las Vegas Sands had a return on equity of 44.26% and a net margin of 13.29%. The firm had revenue of $2.68 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.79 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.55 EPS. Las Vegas Sands's revenue was down 4.0% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts forecast that Las Vegas Sands Corp. will post 2.33 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Las Vegas Sands Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 13th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, November 5th were paid a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.57%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, November 5th. Las Vegas Sands's payout ratio is 39.60%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Robert G. Goldstein sold 24,324 shares of Las Vegas Sands stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 sale, 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 transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 1.20% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.