American Century Companies Inc. Boosts Stock Position in Las Vegas Sands Corp. $LVS

American Century Companies Inc. lifted its holdings in Las Vegas Sands Corp. (NYSE:LVS) by 69.3% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 567,101 shares of the casino operator’s stock after purchasing an additional 232,091 shares during the quarter. American Century Companies Inc. owned 0.08% of Las Vegas Sands worth $21,907,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Achmea Investment Management B.V. grew its holdings in shares of Las Vegas Sands by 55.4% in the first quarter. Achmea Investment Management B.V. now owns 31,411 shares of the casino operator’s stock valued at $1,213,000 after purchasing an additional 11,197 shares in the last quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of Las Vegas Sands by 18.4% in the first quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 39,005 shares of the casino operator’s stock valued at $1,489,000 after purchasing an additional 6,057 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp grew its holdings in shares of Las Vegas Sands by 12.4% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 3,088,597 shares of the casino operator’s stock valued at $158,630,000 after purchasing an additional 339,992 shares in the last quarter. Ground Swell Capital LLC purchased a new position in shares of Las Vegas Sands in the first quarter valued at $225,000. Finally, Everett Harris & Co. CA purchased a new position in shares of Las Vegas Sands in the first quarter valued at $657,000. 39.16% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts recently weighed in on the company. Susquehanna decreased their price target on Las Vegas Sands from $59.00 to $58.00 and set a “positive” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, July 21st. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on Las Vegas Sands from $47.00 to $50.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 6th. The Goldman Sachs Group assumed coverage on Las Vegas Sands in a report on Monday, July 7th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $52.00 price target on the stock. Citigroup restated a “buy” rating on shares of Las Vegas Sands in a report on Wednesday, July 9th. Finally, UBS Group increased their price target on Las Vegas Sands from $48.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 30th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have assigned a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Las Vegas Sands has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $58.33.

Las Vegas Sands Price Performance

LVS opened at $55.0020 on Friday. The business has a fifty day moving average of $49.31 and a 200 day moving average of $43.23. Las Vegas Sands Corp. has a 52-week low of $30.18 and a 52-week high of $56.60. The company has a quick ratio of 1.21, a current ratio of 1.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.53. The stock has a market cap of $37.76 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.78, a PEG ratio of 2.08 and a beta of 1.08.

Las Vegas Sands (NYSE:LVS) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 23rd. The casino operator reported $0.79 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.53 by $0.26. Las Vegas Sands had a return on equity of 55.37% and a net margin of 12.16%.The company had revenue of $3.18 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.83 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.55 EPS. Las Vegas Sands’s revenue was up 15.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Las Vegas Sands Corp. will post 2.6 EPS for the current year.

Las Vegas Sands Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, August 13th. Investors of record on Tuesday, August 5th were issued a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, August 5th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.8%. Las Vegas Sands’s payout ratio is presently 50.51%.

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.