Quantbot Technologies LP Acquires New Shares in Las Vegas Sands Corp. $LVS

Quantbot Technologies LP acquired a new position in Las Vegas Sands Corp. (NYSE:LVS) in the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 32,436 shares of the casino operator’s stock, valued at approximately $1,745,000.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Allianz Asset Management GmbH increased its holdings in Las Vegas Sands by 358.4% during the third quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH now owns 227,278 shares of the casino operator’s stock valued at $12,225,000 after buying an additional 177,695 shares during the period. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its position in Las Vegas Sands by 7.1% during 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. Maple Rock Capital Partners Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Las Vegas Sands by 124.4% in the 2nd quarter. Maple Rock Capital Partners Inc. now owns 1,003,880 shares of the casino operator’s stock valued at $43,679,000 after acquiring an additional 556,440 shares during the period. Donoghue Forlines LLC bought a new position in shares of Las Vegas Sands in the 3rd quarter worth $2,143,000. Finally, National Pension Service purchased a new stake in shares of Las Vegas Sands during the 3rd quarter worth $1,262,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 39.16% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on LVS shares. UBS Group raised their price objective on Las Vegas Sands from $67.00 to $68.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, December 8th. HSBC raised their price target on shares of Las Vegas Sands from $67.50 to $73.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 29th. Barclays set a $64.00 price objective on shares of Las Vegas Sands in a research note on Thursday, January 29th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of Las Vegas Sands from $67.00 to $68.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 29th. Finally, Citigroup upped their price target on Las Vegas Sands from $75.50 to $76.75 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 11th. Twelve equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $68.55.

Insider Transactions at Las Vegas Sands

In other news, major shareholder Miriam Adelson sold 77,991 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $67.56, for a total value of $5,269,071.96. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 23,333,441 shares in the company, valued at $1,576,407,273.96. This trade represents a 0.33% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Robert G. Goldstein sold 1,198,650 shares of Las Vegas Sands stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, December 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $66.68, for a total value of $79,925,982.00. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold 2,477,991 shares of company stock worth $165,323,554 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 1.20% of the company’s stock.

Las Vegas Sands Stock Up 0.8%

NYSE:LVS opened at $56.15 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 1.14, a quick ratio of 1.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 7.58. Las Vegas Sands Corp. has a twelve month low of $30.18 and a twelve month high of $70.45. The company has a market cap of $37.73 billion, a PE ratio of 24.00, a P/E/G ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 0.88. The company’s 50 day moving average is $59.19 and its two-hundred day moving average is $58.94.

Las Vegas Sands (NYSE:LVS) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 28th. The casino operator reported $0.85 EPS 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.33 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.54 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 26.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts anticipate that Las Vegas Sands Corp. will post 2.6 EPS for the current year.

Las Vegas Sands Increases Dividend

The company 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 represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.1%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 9th. This is a boost from Las Vegas Sands’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. Las Vegas Sands’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 51.28%.

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.