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

American Century Companies Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Las Vegas Sands Corp. (NYSE:LVS) by 18.8% during the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 673,961 shares of the casino operator’s stock after acquiring an additional 106,860 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. owned approximately 0.10% of Las Vegas Sands worth $29,324,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of LVS. Rhumbline Advisers grew its stake in shares of Las Vegas Sands by 9.3% during the 2nd quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 771,140 shares of the casino operator’s stock worth $33,552,000 after purchasing an additional 65,555 shares during the period. Mufg Securities Americas Inc. boosted its holdings in Las Vegas Sands by 23.6% during the second quarter. Mufg Securities Americas Inc. now owns 7,517 shares of the casino operator’s stock worth $327,000 after buying an additional 1,434 shares in the last quarter. Mediolanum International Funds Ltd boosted its holdings in Las Vegas Sands by 5.5% during the second quarter. Mediolanum International Funds Ltd now owns 231,442 shares of the casino operator’s stock worth $10,211,000 after buying an additional 11,979 shares in the last quarter. Brandywine Global Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in Las Vegas Sands during the second quarter worth about $19,721,000. Finally, Swiss National Bank increased its holdings in Las Vegas Sands by 4.6% in the second quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 1,069,500 shares of the casino operator’s stock valued at $46,534,000 after buying an additional 47,100 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 39.16% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on the company. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price target on Las Vegas Sands from $57.00 to $64.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, October 24th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Las Vegas Sands in a report on Tuesday, November 25th. Zacks Research upgraded Las Vegas Sands from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, October 10th. Wells Fargo & Company initiated coverage on Las Vegas Sands in a research report on Tuesday, November 18th. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $66.00 price target for the company. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on Las Vegas Sands from $59.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 28th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have assigned a Buy rating and six have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $64.60.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Las Vegas Sands news, CEO Robert G. Goldstein sold 360,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $63.05, for a total transaction of $22,698,000.00. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CFO Randy Hyzak sold 57,545 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $66.45, for a total value of $3,823,865.25. Following the sale, the chief financial officer owned 53,499 shares in the company, valued at $3,555,008.55. This trade represents a 51.82% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 2,157,545 shares of company stock worth $130,042,065. 1.20% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Las Vegas Sands Stock Down 0.1%

LVS opened at $68.16 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $46.09 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.84, a PEG ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 1.03. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $57.98 and its 200 day simple moving average is $51.89. Las Vegas Sands Corp. has a 52 week low of $30.18 and a 52 week high of $68.63. The company has a quick ratio of 1.21, a current ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 7.42.

Las Vegas Sands (NYSE:LVS) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, October 22nd. The casino operator reported $0.78 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.62 by $0.16. Las Vegas Sands had a net margin of 12.69% and a return on equity of 73.14%. The firm had revenue of $3.33 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.04 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.44 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 24.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Las Vegas Sands Corp. will post 2.6 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Las Vegas Sands Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 12th. Investors of record on Tuesday, November 4th were paid a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, November 4th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.5%. Las Vegas Sands’s dividend payout ratio is presently 45.25%.

Las Vegas Sands 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.