ING Groep NV Invests $4.25 Million in Las Vegas Sands Corp. $LVS

ING Groep NV purchased a new position in shares of Las Vegas Sands Corp. (NYSE:LVS) in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor purchased 65,220 shares of the casino operator’s stock, valued at approximately $4,245,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Mackenzie Financial Corp grew its position in shares of Las Vegas Sands by 0.3% during the third quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 53,945 shares of the casino operator’s stock worth $2,902,000 after buying an additional 156 shares in the last quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Las Vegas Sands by 7.8% during the third quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 2,449 shares of the casino operator’s stock worth $132,000 after buying an additional 177 shares in the last quarter. Alps Advisors Inc. grew its position in shares of Las Vegas Sands by 2.4% during the third quarter. Alps Advisors Inc. now owns 8,528 shares of the casino operator’s stock worth $459,000 after buying an additional 197 shares in the last quarter. United Capital Financial Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Las Vegas Sands by 5.5% during the third quarter. United Capital Financial Advisors LLC now owns 4,945 shares of the casino operator’s stock worth $266,000 after buying an additional 258 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC grew its position in shares of Las Vegas Sands by 4.2% during the fourth quarter. Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC now owns 6,859 shares of the casino operator’s stock worth $446,000 after buying an additional 279 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 39.16% of the company’s stock.

Las Vegas Sands Stock Performance

Las Vegas Sands stock opened at $50.80 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $33.66 billion, a PE ratio of 18.81, a P/E/G ratio of 1.14 and a beta of 0.81. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $52.84 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $57.72. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.64, a current ratio of 0.92 and a quick ratio of 0.91. Las Vegas Sands Corp. has a 12 month low of $40.03 and a 12 month high of $70.45.

Las Vegas Sands (NYSE:LVS) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 22nd. The casino operator reported $0.91 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.76 by $0.15. The firm had revenue of $3.59 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.32 billion. Las Vegas Sands had a net margin of 13.41% and a return on equity of 118.27%. The firm’s revenue was up 25.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.59 earnings per share. Research analysts expect that Las Vegas Sands Corp. will post 3.38 earnings per share for the current year.

Las Vegas Sands Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 13th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, May 5th were paid a $0.30 dividend. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.4%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, May 5th. Las Vegas Sands’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 44.44%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on LVS. HSBC raised their price target on shares of Las Vegas Sands from $73.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 23rd. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of Las Vegas Sands from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 26th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on shares of Las Vegas Sands from $71.00 to $68.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 23rd. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price objective on shares of Las Vegas Sands from $61.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, April 23rd. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on shares of Las Vegas Sands from $67.00 to $69.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, April 23rd. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $67.91.

Insider Transactions at Las Vegas Sands

In other Las Vegas Sands news, CEO Patrick Dumont sold 60,165 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $54.75, for a total value of $3,294,033.75. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 511,942 shares in the company, valued at approximately $28,028,824.50. This trade represents a 10.52% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders own 0.55% 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.