Transamerica Financial Advisors Inc. Grows Position in Las Vegas Sands Corp. (NYSE:LVS)

Transamerica Financial Advisors Inc. lifted its position in shares of Las Vegas Sands Corp. (NYSE:LVS) by 1,772.1% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 1,947 shares of the casino operator’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,843 shares during the quarter. Transamerica Financial Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Las Vegas Sands were worth $100,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of LVS. Fisher Asset Management LLC grew its stake in Las Vegas Sands by 1.2% during the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 13,810,351 shares of the casino operator’s stock worth $709,300,000 after buying an additional 160,711 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its position in Las Vegas Sands by 13.5% in 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 purchasing an additional 1,389,963 shares during the period. Janus Henderson Group PLC lifted its stake in shares of 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 worth $459,630,000 after purchasing an additional 5,612,975 shares in the last quarter. ARGA Investment Management LP boosted its position in shares of Las Vegas Sands by 32.0% in 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, Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Las Vegas Sands during the 4th quarter valued at about $216,571,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 39.16% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have issued reports on LVS shares. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Las Vegas Sands from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $60.00 to $69.00 in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on shares of 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. Barclays decreased their price objective on shares of Las Vegas Sands from $61.00 to $58.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft dropped their target price on Las Vegas Sands from $66.00 to $62.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on Las Vegas Sands from $62.00 to $61.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Las Vegas Sands has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $59.42.

Las Vegas Sands Stock Down 5.4 %

LVS stock opened at $38.15 on Friday. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $43.56 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $47.76. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.35, a current ratio of 0.74 and a quick ratio of 0.73. Las Vegas Sands Corp. has a 1-year low of $36.62 and a 1-year high of $56.61. The firm has a market cap of $27.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.36, a PEG ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 1.07.

Las Vegas Sands (NYSE:LVS) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The casino operator reported $0.54 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.58 by ($0.04). Las Vegas Sands had a return on equity of 45.82% and a net margin of 12.80%. Research analysts predict that Las Vegas Sands Corp. will post 2.6 EPS for the current year.

Las Vegas Sands Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, February 19th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 10th were given a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 10th. This is a positive change from Las Vegas Sands’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.62%. Las Vegas Sands’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 50.76%.

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.