Dimensional Fund Advisors LP Buys 187,389 Shares of Las Vegas Sands Corp. $LVS

Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its stake in shares of Las Vegas Sands Corp. (NYSE:LVS) by 5.3% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 3,723,494 shares of the casino operator’s stock after acquiring an additional 187,389 shares during the quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP owned about 0.55% of Las Vegas Sands worth $200,335,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Norges Bank bought a new position in Las Vegas Sands during the second quarter valued at approximately $134,179,000. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in 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 worth $1,874,063,000 after purchasing an additional 1,822,806 shares during the period. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership grew its position in 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 worth $44,067,000 after purchasing an additional 989,392 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Las Vegas Sands by 116.7% during the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 1,713,498 shares of the casino operator’s stock valued at $74,272,000 after buying an additional 922,738 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Retirement Systems of Alabama lifted its holdings in shares of Las Vegas Sands by 769.4% during the 3rd quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama now owns 632,705 shares of the casino operator’s stock valued at $34,033,000 after buying an additional 559,926 shares during the period. 39.16% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Las Vegas Sands Trading Down 2.6%

Shares of LVS stock opened at $53.69 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 7.58, a current ratio of 1.14 and a quick ratio of 1.13. The company has a market cap of $36.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.94, a PEG ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 0.88. Las Vegas Sands Corp. has a 1 year low of $30.18 and a 1 year high of $70.45. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $58.72 and a 200-day moving average price of $58.99.

Las Vegas Sands (NYSE:LVS) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, January 28th. The casino operator reported $0.85 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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%.Las Vegas Sands’s revenue for the quarter was up 26.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.54 EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that Las Vegas Sands Corp. will post 2.6 earnings per share for the current year.

Las Vegas Sands Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, February 18th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 9th were paid a $0.30 dividend. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.2%. This is an increase from Las Vegas Sands’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 9th. Las Vegas Sands’s dividend payout ratio is 51.28%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Macquarie Infrastructure restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $70.00 price target on shares of Las Vegas Sands in a research note on Thursday, January 29th. Morgan Stanley set a $66.00 price objective on Las Vegas Sands in a research report on Wednesday, February 11th. HSBC increased their target price on Las Vegas Sands from $67.50 to $73.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 29th. Argus dropped their target price on Las Vegas Sands from $80.00 to $60.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 30th. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded Las Vegas Sands from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, February 14th. Twelve investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $68.55.

Insider Transactions at Las Vegas Sands

In other Las Vegas Sands news, major shareholder Miriam Adelson sold 77,991 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $67.56, for a total transaction of $5,269,071.96. Following the sale, the insider owned 23,333,441 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,576,407,273.96. This trade represents a 0.33% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Robert G. Goldstein sold 1,198,650 shares of Las Vegas Sands stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, December 17th. The shares were 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 ninety days, insiders have sold 2,477,991 shares of company stock worth $165,323,554. Insiders own 1.20% of the company’s stock.

About Las Vegas Sands

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.