9,254 Shares in Las Vegas Sands Corp. (NYSE:LVS) Bought by AXQ Capital LP

AXQ Capital LP purchased a new stake in Las Vegas Sands Corp. (NYSE:LVS) during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund purchased 9,254 shares of the casino operator’s stock, valued at approximately $475,000.

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Empowered Funds LLC increased its holdings in shares of Las Vegas Sands by 3.6% in the third quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 6,050 shares of the casino operator’s stock worth $305,000 after purchasing an additional 213 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Trust N.A. grew its holdings in Las Vegas Sands by 4.7% during the 3rd quarter. Raymond James Trust N.A. now owns 5,062 shares of the casino operator’s stock valued at $255,000 after buying an additional 229 shares in the last quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. increased its stake in Las Vegas Sands by 3.7% in the 4th quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. now owns 6,505 shares of the casino operator’s stock worth $334,000 after acquiring an additional 231 shares during the last quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB raised its holdings in shares of Las Vegas Sands by 45.6% during the 4th quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB now owns 760 shares of the casino operator’s stock worth $39,000 after acquiring an additional 238 shares in the last quarter. Finally, UMB Bank n.a. boosted its position in shares of Las Vegas Sands by 73.5% during the 4th quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 583 shares of the casino operator’s stock valued at $30,000 after acquiring an additional 247 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 39.16% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

LVS has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on shares of Las Vegas Sands from $60.00 to $59.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on shares of Las Vegas Sands from $51.00 to $49.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, February 24th. Citigroup lifted their price target on Las Vegas Sands from $64.50 to $67.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Macquarie upped their price objective on Las Vegas Sands from $57.00 to $58.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. Finally, Barclays dropped their target price on Las Vegas Sands from $61.00 to $58.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Las Vegas Sands currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $59.42.

Las Vegas Sands Price Performance

Shares of LVS stock opened at $41.98 on Friday. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $44.04 and a 200 day moving average price of $47.74. The firm has a market capitalization of $30.05 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.31, a P/E/G ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 1.07. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.35, a quick ratio of 0.73 and a current ratio of 0.74. Las Vegas Sands Corp. has a 52-week low of $36.62 and a 52-week high of $56.61.

Las Vegas Sands (NYSE:LVS) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The casino operator reported $0.54 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.58 by ($0.04). Las Vegas Sands had a net margin of 12.80% and a return on equity of 45.82%. As a group, sell-side 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 19th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 10th were given a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.38%. This is a boost from Las Vegas Sands’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 10th. Las Vegas Sands’s payout ratio is 50.76%.

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.