First Financial Bankshares Inc Makes New Investment in Las Vegas Sands Corp. $LVS

First Financial Bankshares Inc bought a new stake in Las Vegas Sands Corp. (NYSE:LVS) in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 12,901 shares of the casino operator’s stock, valued at approximately $694,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Las Vegas Sands in the second quarter valued at $134,179,000. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Las Vegas Sands by 4.4% in the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 43,072,014 shares of the casino operator’s stock valued at $1,874,063,000 after purchasing an additional 1,822,806 shares during the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership boosted its position in shares of Las Vegas Sands by 4,226.7% in the 2nd quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 1,012,800 shares of the casino operator’s stock valued at $44,067,000 after purchasing an additional 989,392 shares during the period. Carrhae Capital LLP purchased a new position in Las Vegas Sands during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $41,849,000. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC increased its position in Las Vegas Sands by 116.7% during the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 1,713,498 shares of the casino operator’s stock worth $74,272,000 after buying an additional 922,738 shares during the period. 39.16% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Barclays set a $64.00 price objective on Las Vegas Sands in a report on Thursday, January 29th. Citigroup raised their price objective on shares of Las Vegas Sands from $75.50 to $76.75 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 11th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Las Vegas Sands from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, February 14th. Morgan Stanley set a $66.00 price target on Las Vegas Sands in a report on Wednesday, February 11th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price target on Las Vegas Sands from $76.00 to $77.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 29th. Twelve research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $68.55.

Las Vegas Sands Trading Down 1.2%

NYSE LVS opened at $55.04 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.13, a current ratio of 1.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 7.58. The stock has a market capitalization of $36.98 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.52, a P/E/G ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 0.93. Las Vegas Sands Corp. has a 52-week low of $30.18 and a 52-week high of $70.45. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $60.46 and a 200 day moving average price of $58.88.

Las Vegas Sands (NYSE:LVS) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, January 28th. The casino operator reported $0.85 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.77 by $0.08. The company had revenue of $3.65 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.33 billion. Las Vegas Sands had a return on equity of 91.40% and a net margin of 12.50%.The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 26.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.54 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that Las Vegas Sands Corp. will post 2.6 EPS for the current year.

Las Vegas Sands Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, February 18th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 9th were given a $0.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 9th. This is a positive change from Las Vegas Sands’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.2%. Las Vegas Sands’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 51.28%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Las Vegas Sands

In related news, major shareholder Miriam Adelson sold 77,991 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $67.56, for a total value of $5,269,071.96. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 23,333,441 shares in the company, valued at $1,576,407,273.96. This trade represents a 0.33% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Robert G. Goldstein sold 1,198,650 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, December 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $66.68, for a total transaction of $79,925,982.00. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 3,024,508 shares of company stock valued at $203,306,334. 1.20% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Las Vegas Sands Profile

Las Vegas Sands (NYSE: LVS) is a global developer and operator of integrated resorts, focused on large-scale properties that combine casino gaming with hotels, convention and exhibition facilities, retail, dining, and entertainment. The company’s operations center on developing and managing full-service resort complexes that serve both leisure and business travelers, with emphasis on convention and trade-show business in addition to gaming revenue streams.

The company’s portfolio has included prominent properties in North America and Asia, most notably The Venetian Resort in Las Vegas and Marina Bay Sands in Singapore, along with a significant presence in Macau through multiple integrated resorts.