Las Vegas Sands Corp. (NYSE:LVS) Shares Purchased by Mather Group LLC.

Mather Group LLC. raised its position in Las Vegas Sands Corp. (NYSE:LVS) by 272.2% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 6,436 shares of the casino operator’s stock after acquiring an additional 4,707 shares during the quarter. Mather Group LLC.’s holdings in Las Vegas Sands were worth $331,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Janus Henderson Group PLC grew its holdings in shares of Las Vegas Sands by 159.6% in the third quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 9,130,486 shares of the casino operator’s stock valued at $459,630,000 after purchasing an additional 5,612,975 shares in the last quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company grew its stake in shares of Las Vegas Sands by 1.4% in the third quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 5,627,422 shares of the casino operator’s stock worth $283,284,000 after acquiring an additional 77,807 shares in the last quarter. ARGA Investment Management LP increased its position in shares of Las Vegas Sands by 24.8% during the third quarter. ARGA Investment Management LP now owns 4,924,340 shares of the casino operator’s stock worth $247,891,000 after acquiring an additional 977,636 shares during the period. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC raised its stake in shares of Las Vegas Sands by 2.2% in the third quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 2,659,427 shares of the casino operator’s stock valued at $133,876,000 after acquiring an additional 57,739 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bamco Inc. NY raised its stake in shares of Las Vegas Sands by 29.2% in the third quarter. Bamco Inc. NY now owns 1,581,075 shares of the casino operator’s stock valued at $79,591,000 after acquiring an additional 357,234 shares in the last quarter. 39.16% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Las Vegas Sands Stock Down 2.9 %

Las Vegas Sands stock opened at $42.28 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $30.66 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.46, a PEG ratio of 1.40 and a beta of 1.08. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.09, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a current ratio of 0.90. Las Vegas Sands Corp. has a fifty-two week low of $36.62 and a fifty-two week high of $56.60. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $49.40 and a 200-day simple moving average of $46.82.

Las Vegas Sands (NYSE:LVS) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The casino operator reported $0.54 earnings per share 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 43.76%. Equities research analysts expect that Las Vegas Sands Corp. will post 2.69 earnings per share for the current year.

Las Vegas Sands Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, February 19th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 10th will be given a dividend of $0.25 per share. This is an increase from Las Vegas Sands’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.37%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, February 10th. Las Vegas Sands’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 40.61%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Las Vegas Sands

In other Las Vegas Sands news, CEO Robert G. Goldstein sold 60,187 shares of Las Vegas Sands stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $53.02, for a total value of $3,191,114.74. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 1.20% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on LVS shares. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price target on Las Vegas Sands from $55.00 to $64.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on shares of Las Vegas Sands from $60.00 to $59.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered their price target on shares of Las Vegas Sands from $66.00 to $62.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. Macquarie raised their price objective on shares of Las Vegas Sands from $57.00 to $58.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. Finally, Citigroup boosted their target price on shares of Las Vegas Sands from $64.50 to $67.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $59.58.

About Las Vegas Sands

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.