Sei Investments Co. Reduces Stake in Las Vegas Sands Corp. (NYSE:LVS)

Sei Investments Co. lessened its stake in shares of Las Vegas Sands Corp. (NYSE:LVS) by 21.4% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 386,028 shares of the casino operator’s stock after selling 104,862 shares during the quarter. Sei Investments Co. owned about 0.05% of Las Vegas Sands worth $19,826,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Janus Henderson Group PLC grew its stake in Las Vegas Sands by 159.6% during 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 acquiring an additional 5,612,975 shares in the last quarter. ARGA Investment Management LP boosted its holdings in Las Vegas Sands by 32.0% in the 4th quarter. ARGA Investment Management LP now owns 6,501,382 shares of the casino operator’s stock valued at $333,911,000 after purchasing an additional 1,577,042 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its position in shares of Las Vegas Sands by 13.5% during the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 11,662,548 shares of the casino operator’s stock valued at $598,988,000 after purchasing an additional 1,389,963 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in shares of Las Vegas Sands in the fourth quarter worth $55,221,000. Finally, Suvretta Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Las Vegas Sands in the third quarter worth $24,370,000. 39.16% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently commented on LVS. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on Las Vegas Sands from $62.00 to $61.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. Barclays cut their price objective on Las Vegas Sands from $61.00 to $58.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on shares of Las Vegas Sands from $51.00 to $49.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, February 24th. Citigroup boosted their price target 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. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on shares of Las Vegas Sands from $60.00 to $59.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $59.42.

Las Vegas Sands Trading Up 0.1 %

NYSE LVS opened at $40.35 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $43.68 and a 200-day moving average of $47.71. The company has a current ratio of 0.74, a quick ratio of 0.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.35. Las Vegas Sands Corp. has a 1-year low of $36.62 and a 1-year high of $56.61. The firm has a market cap of $28.89 billion, a PE ratio of 20.48, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 1.07.

Las Vegas Sands (NYSE:LVS) last released 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 45.82%. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast 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 19th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 10th were issued a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.48%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 10th. This is a positive change from Las Vegas Sands’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. Las Vegas Sands’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 50.76%.

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.