Cerity Partners LLC Purchases Shares of 5,829 Las Vegas Sands Corp. (NYSE:LVS)

Cerity Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Las Vegas Sands Corp. (NYSE:LVS) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 5,829 shares of the casino operator’s stock, valued at approximately $287,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in LVS. Oak Thistle LLC acquired a new position in Las Vegas Sands in the third quarter valued at about $475,000. Czech National Bank boosted its position in Las Vegas Sands by 47.7% in the third quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 57,452 shares of the casino operator’s stock valued at $2,634,000 after buying an additional 18,555 shares in the last quarter. Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund boosted its position in Las Vegas Sands by 9.5% in the third quarter. Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund now owns 83,903 shares of the casino operator’s stock valued at $3,846,000 after buying an additional 7,300 shares in the last quarter. Xponance Inc. boosted its position in Las Vegas Sands by 4.8% in the third quarter. Xponance Inc. now owns 78,433 shares of the casino operator’s stock valued at $3,595,000 after buying an additional 3,585 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. boosted its position in Las Vegas Sands by 76.3% in the third quarter. Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. now owns 10,520 shares of the casino operator’s stock valued at $482,000 after buying an additional 4,554 shares in the last quarter. 39.16% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on LVS shares. Mizuho dropped their target price on shares of Las Vegas Sands from $70.00 to $65.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 18th. Barclays dropped their target price on shares of Las Vegas Sands from $60.00 to $59.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 18th. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their target price on shares of Las Vegas Sands from $70.00 to $65.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 18th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on shares of Las Vegas Sands from $62.00 to $60.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 18th. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of Las Vegas Sands from $61.00 to $62.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 9th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Las Vegas Sands currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $63.46.

Insider Buying and Selling at Las Vegas Sands

In other news, CEO Robert G. Goldstein sold 100,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $52.06, for a total value of $5,206,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 172,801 shares in the company, valued at $8,996,020.06. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders own 0.91% of the company’s stock.

Las Vegas Sands Stock Down 0.2 %

Shares of NYSE:LVS opened at $45.45 on Friday. Las Vegas Sands Corp. has a 52 week low of $43.77 and a 52 week high of $65.58. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.96, a quick ratio of 1.30 and a current ratio of 1.30. The company has a market capitalization of $33.86 billion, a PE ratio of 21.96, a PEG ratio of 0.85 and a beta of 1.16. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $51.18 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $49.65.

Las Vegas Sands (NYSE:LVS) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, April 17th. The casino operator reported $0.75 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.62 by $0.13. Las Vegas Sands had a net margin of 13.99% and a return on equity of 42.34%. The firm had revenue of $2.86 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.94 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.28 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 34.9% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts forecast that Las Vegas Sands Corp. will post 2.65 earnings per share for the current year.

Las Vegas Sands Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, May 7th will be paid a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.76%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, May 6th. Las Vegas Sands’s payout ratio is presently 38.65%.

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.