Allianz SE Buys New Holdings in Las Vegas Sands Corp. $LVS

Allianz SE purchased a new position in shares of Las Vegas Sands Corp. (NYSE:LVS) in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 16,800 shares of the casino operator’s stock, valued at approximately $904,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Las Vegas Sands by 4.4% in the second quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 43,072,014 shares of the casino operator’s stock worth $1,874,063,000 after acquiring an additional 1,822,806 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. boosted its holdings in Las Vegas Sands by 4.9% in the second quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 9,902,619 shares of the casino operator’s stock valued at $430,863,000 after purchasing an additional 459,821 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in Las Vegas Sands by 0.4% during the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 8,823,966 shares of the casino operator’s stock worth $382,294,000 after purchasing an additional 31,153 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Las Vegas Sands during the 2nd quarter valued at about $134,179,000. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of 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. 39.16% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Las Vegas Sands news, CEO Robert G. Goldstein sold 1,198,650 shares of Las Vegas Sands stock in a transaction on Wednesday, December 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $66.68, for a total transaction of $79,925,982.00. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, major shareholder Miriam Adelson sold 77,991 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $67.56, for a total transaction of $5,269,071.96. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 23,333,441 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,576,407,273.96. The trade was a 0.33% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 3,024,508 shares of company stock worth $203,306,334. 1.20% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts recently commented on LVS shares. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their target price on Las Vegas Sands from $75.00 to $72.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 29th. UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of Las Vegas Sands from $67.00 to $68.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, December 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of Las Vegas Sands from $70.00 to $71.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 23rd. Zacks Research cut shares of Las Vegas Sands from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, December 22nd. Finally, Morgan Stanley set a $66.00 price target on shares of Las Vegas Sands in a research report on Wednesday, February 11th. Twelve analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $68.55.

Las Vegas Sands Stock Up 1.3%

Shares of NYSE LVS opened at $56.67 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $38.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.22, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.45 and a beta of 0.93. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $59.81 and its 200-day simple moving average is $58.89. The company has a quick ratio of 1.13, a current ratio of 1.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 7.58. Las Vegas Sands Corp. has a 52-week low of $30.18 and a 52-week high of $70.45.

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

Las Vegas Sands Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, February 18th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 9th were paid a $0.30 dividend. This is a boost from Las Vegas Sands’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 9th. Las Vegas Sands’s dividend payout ratio is presently 51.28%.

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.