State of Alaska Department of Revenue Purchases 570 Shares of Las Vegas Sands Corp. (NYSE:LVS)

State of Alaska Department of Revenue raised its holdings in Las Vegas Sands Corp. (NYSE:LVS) by 1.4% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 40,250 shares of the casino operator’s stock after acquiring an additional 570 shares during the quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue’s holdings in Las Vegas Sands were worth $1,554,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of LVS. Fisher Asset Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Las Vegas Sands by 1.2% in the 4th quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 13,810,351 shares of the casino operator’s stock worth $709,300,000 after purchasing an additional 160,711 shares during the period. Polymer Capital Management HK LTD acquired a new stake in shares of Las Vegas Sands during the fourth quarter worth $2,311,000. Northern Trust Corp raised its stake in Las Vegas Sands by 12.4% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 3,088,597 shares of the casino operator’s stock worth $158,630,000 after buying an additional 339,992 shares during the last quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in Las Vegas Sands by 63.0% in the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 885 shares of the casino operator’s stock valued at $45,000 after buying an additional 342 shares during the period. Finally, D.A. Davidson & CO. lifted its holdings in Las Vegas Sands by 5.2% in the fourth quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. now owns 7,166 shares of the casino operator’s stock valued at $368,000 after buying an additional 354 shares during the period. 39.16% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Las Vegas Sands Trading Up 1.6%

NYSE:LVS opened at $42.62 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.58, a current ratio of 0.59 and a quick ratio of 0.59. Las Vegas Sands Corp. has a one year low of $30.18 and a one year high of $56.61. The company has a market cap of $30.11 billion, a PE ratio of 23.68, a PEG ratio of 1.49 and a beta of 1.03. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $39.56 and a 200-day moving average of $42.70.

Las Vegas Sands (NYSE:LVS) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 23rd. The casino operator reported $0.59 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.60 by ($0.01). The company 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 44.91% and a net margin of 11.64%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 3.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $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 fiscal year.

Las Vegas Sands announced that its board has approved a stock buyback plan on Wednesday, April 23rd that permits the company to repurchase $2.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the casino operator to reacquire up to 8.2% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are generally an indication that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Las Vegas Sands Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 14th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, May 6th were issued a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.35%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, May 6th. Las Vegas Sands’s dividend payout ratio is 55.56%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Macquarie lowered their price objective on Las Vegas Sands from $58.00 to $52.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. started coverage on Las Vegas Sands in a research note on Monday. They set a “neutral” rating and a $47.00 target price for the company. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on Las Vegas Sands from $47.00 to $45.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 16th. Mizuho set a $47.00 price target on Las Vegas Sands in a report on Thursday, April 24th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus set a $57.00 price objective on shares of Las Vegas Sands and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Las Vegas Sands currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $55.58.

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.