Metis Global Partners LLC Buys 423 Shares of Las Vegas Sands Corp. (NYSE:LVS)

Metis Global Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of Las Vegas Sands Corp. (NYSE:LVS) by 3.7% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 12,002 shares of the casino operator’s stock after acquiring an additional 423 shares during the quarter. Metis Global Partners LLC’s holdings in Las Vegas Sands were worth $616,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Meeder Asset Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Las Vegas Sands by 97.2% in the third quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. now owns 89,743 shares of the casino operator’s stock valued at $4,518,000 after buying an additional 44,223 shares in the last quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. increased its stake in shares of Las Vegas Sands by 32.2% in the fourth quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 32,948 shares of the casino operator’s stock valued at $1,707,000 after buying an additional 8,032 shares in the last quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company increased 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 valued at $283,284,000 after buying an additional 77,807 shares in the last quarter. ARGA Investment Management LP increased its stake in shares of Las Vegas Sands by 32.0% in the fourth quarter. ARGA Investment Management LP now owns 6,501,382 shares of the casino operator’s stock valued at $333,911,000 after buying an additional 1,577,042 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Las Vegas Sands by 33.3% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 548,072 shares of the casino operator’s stock valued at $27,590,000 after buying an additional 136,859 shares in the last quarter. 39.16% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on LVS shares. Barclays lowered their target price on Las Vegas Sands from $61.00 to $58.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on Las Vegas Sands from $60.00 to $59.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on Las Vegas Sands from $51.00 to $49.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, February 24th. Citigroup lifted their price objective 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. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upgraded Las Vegas Sands from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $60.00 to $69.00 in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $59.42.

Las Vegas Sands Trading Up 2.3 %

Shares of Las Vegas Sands stock opened at $46.12 on Thursday. Las Vegas Sands Corp. has a 12-month low of $36.62 and a 12-month high of $56.61. The stock has a market cap of $33.02 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.41, a P/E/G ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 1.07. The company has a quick ratio of 0.73, a current ratio of 0.74 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.35. The business’s 50 day moving average is $45.61 and its 200-day moving average is $47.43.

Las Vegas Sands (NYSE:LVS) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 return on equity of 45.82% and a net margin of 12.80%. Equities research analysts predict that Las Vegas Sands Corp. will post 2.6 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Las Vegas Sands Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, February 19th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 10th were paid a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 10th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.17%. This is a boost from Las Vegas Sands’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. Las Vegas Sands’s dividend payout ratio is currently 50.76%.

Las Vegas Sands Company 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.