Nomura Holdings Inc. Grows Holdings in Las Vegas Sands Corp. $LVS

Nomura Holdings Inc. lifted its stake in Las Vegas Sands Corp. (NYSE:LVS) by 559.1% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 86,448 shares of the casino operator’s stock after acquiring an additional 73,331 shares during the quarter. Nomura Holdings Inc.’s holdings in Las Vegas Sands were worth $3,761,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. American Century Companies Inc. grew its stake in shares of Las Vegas Sands by 69.3% in the first quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 567,101 shares of the casino operator’s stock valued at $21,907,000 after buying an additional 232,091 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp boosted its holdings in Las Vegas Sands by 0.4% during the 1st quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 3,101,190 shares of the casino operator’s stock valued at $119,799,000 after acquiring an additional 12,593 shares during the period. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. grew its position in Las Vegas Sands by 7.1% in the 2nd quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 644,286 shares of the casino operator’s stock valued at $28,033,000 after acquiring an additional 42,598 shares in the last quarter. Jump Financial LLC grew its position in Las Vegas Sands by 560.4% in the 1st quarter. Jump Financial LLC now owns 70,685 shares of the casino operator’s stock valued at $2,731,000 after acquiring an additional 59,982 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Intech Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in Las Vegas Sands during the second quarter worth about $1,254,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 39.16% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently commented on LVS. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of Las Vegas Sands from $60.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 23rd. Citigroup increased their target price on shares of Las Vegas Sands from $75.50 to $76.75 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, December 11th. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Las Vegas Sands in a research note on Monday, December 8th. Wall Street Zen raised Las Vegas Sands from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Saturday. Finally, Susquehanna increased their price objective on Las Vegas Sands from $62.00 to $63.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 22nd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have issued a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $67.52.

Las Vegas Sands Trading Up 2.6%

NYSE LVS opened at $66.95 on Tuesday. Las Vegas Sands Corp. has a 52 week low of $30.18 and a 52 week high of $70.45. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $60.92 and a two-hundred day moving average of $53.89. The company has a quick ratio of 0.88, a current ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 7.42. The stock has a market capitalization of $45.27 billion, a PE ratio of 30.29, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.77 and a beta of 0.97.

Las Vegas Sands (NYSE:LVS) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 22nd. The casino operator reported $0.78 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.62 by $0.16. The business had revenue of $3.33 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.04 billion. Las Vegas Sands had a net margin of 12.69% and a return on equity of 73.14%. The company’s revenue was up 24.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.44 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that Las Vegas Sands Corp. will post 2.6 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Las Vegas Sands Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 12th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, November 4th were issued a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, November 4th. Las Vegas Sands’s payout ratio is 45.25%.

Insider Activity at Las Vegas Sands

In related news, EVP D. Zachary Hudson sold 53,257 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.37, for a total transaction of $3,747,695.09. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 13,735 shares in the company, valued at $966,531.95. The trade was a 79.50% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, COO Patrick Dumont sold 135,603 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, December 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $67.96, for a total value of $9,215,579.88. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer directly owned 446,608 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $30,351,479.68. This trade represents a 23.29% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold 3,104,062 shares of company stock worth $194,591,786 over the last three months. Company insiders own 1.20% of the company’s stock.

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.