Las Vegas Sands Corp. $LVS Shares Purchased by Assenagon Asset Management S.A.

Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its stake in Las Vegas Sands Corp. (NYSE:LVS) by 616.0% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 1,141,426 shares of the casino operator’s stock after buying an additional 982,011 shares during the quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. owned approximately 0.17% of Las Vegas Sands worth $74,295,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. lifted its position in shares of Las Vegas Sands by 8.4% in the first quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 31,251 shares of the casino operator’s stock valued at $1,207,000 after acquiring an additional 2,418 shares in the last quarter. Woodline Partners LP increased its position in Las Vegas Sands by 38.9% during the 1st quarter. Woodline Partners LP now owns 29,032 shares of the casino operator’s stock worth $1,122,000 after purchasing an additional 8,132 shares in the last quarter. Creative Planning raised its stake in Las Vegas Sands by 10.6% in the 2nd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 49,093 shares of the casino operator’s stock valued at $2,136,000 after purchasing an additional 4,705 shares during the last quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers raised its stake in Las Vegas Sands by 4.3% in the 2nd quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 21,359 shares of the casino operator’s stock valued at $929,000 after purchasing an additional 886 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Swiss National Bank lifted its holdings in Las Vegas Sands by 4.6% in the 2nd quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 1,069,500 shares of the casino operator’s stock valued at $46,534,000 after purchasing an additional 47,100 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 39.16% of the company’s stock.

Las Vegas Sands Stock Up 1.6%

LVS opened at $54.87 on Wednesday. Las Vegas Sands Corp. has a 12 month low of $30.18 and a 12 month high of $70.45. The business has a 50-day moving average of $56.55 and a two-hundred day moving average of $58.82. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $36.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.45, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.38 and a beta of 0.88.

Las Vegas Sands (NYSE:LVS) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 28th. The casino operator reported $0.85 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 business had revenue of $3.65 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.33 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.54 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 26.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts expect 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 declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, February 18th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 9th were paid a dividend of $0.30 per share. This is an increase from Las Vegas Sands’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 9th. Las Vegas Sands’s payout ratio is 51.28%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Argus decreased their price target on shares of Las Vegas Sands from $80.00 to $60.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 30th. Citigroup upped their price objective on shares of Las Vegas Sands from $75.50 to $76.75 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 11th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their target price on shares of Las Vegas Sands from $76.00 to $77.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 29th. Morgan Stanley set a $66.00 target price on shares of Las Vegas Sands in a research note on Wednesday, February 11th. Finally, UBS Group boosted their price target on Las Vegas Sands from $67.00 to $68.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, December 8th. Twelve equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $68.55.

Insider Buying and Selling at Las Vegas Sands

In other Las Vegas Sands news, CEO Patrick Dumont sold 60,165 shares of Las Vegas Sands stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $54.75, for a total value of $3,294,033.75. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 511,942 shares in the company, valued at $28,028,824.50. This trade represents a 10.52% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 1.20% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.