Transamerica Financial Advisors Inc. Boosts Stake in Las Vegas Sands Corp. (NYSE:LVS)

Transamerica Financial Advisors Inc. increased its position in shares of Las Vegas Sands Corp. (NYSE:LVS) by 1,772.1% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,947 shares of the casino operator’s stock after buying an additional 1,843 shares during the quarter. Transamerica Financial Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Las Vegas Sands were worth $100,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in LVS. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB purchased a new position in shares of Las Vegas Sands during the third quarter worth approximately $26,000. Bank of Jackson Hole Trust acquired a new position in Las Vegas Sands in the fourth quarter valued at $26,000. UMB Bank n.a. raised its holdings in shares of Las Vegas Sands by 73.5% in the fourth quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 583 shares of the casino operator’s stock valued at $30,000 after buying an additional 247 shares during the last quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. acquired a new stake in shares of Las Vegas Sands during the fourth quarter worth about $36,000. Finally, Smartleaf Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Las Vegas Sands by 63.0% during the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 885 shares of the casino operator’s stock worth $45,000 after buying an additional 342 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 39.16% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on LVS shares. Macquarie boosted their target price on Las Vegas Sands from $57.00 to $58.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. Jefferies Financial Group raised Las Vegas Sands from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price target for the company from $60.00 to $69.00 in a report on Friday, January 3rd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft dropped their price objective on Las Vegas Sands from $66.00 to $62.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. Barclays reduced their target price 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. Finally, Morgan Stanley lowered their price target 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. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Las Vegas Sands currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $59.42.

Las Vegas Sands Trading Down 5.4 %

Shares of LVS opened at $38.15 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.35, a current ratio of 0.74 and a quick ratio of 0.73. Las Vegas Sands Corp. has a 1-year low of $36.62 and a 1-year high of $56.61. The stock has a market cap of $27.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.36, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 1.07. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $43.56 and a 200-day simple moving average of $47.76.

Las Vegas Sands (NYSE:LVS) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The casino operator reported $0.54 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate 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 analysts forecast that Las Vegas Sands Corp. will post 2.6 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Las Vegas Sands Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, February 19th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 10th were issued a dividend of $0.25 per share. This is a boost from Las Vegas Sands’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 10th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.62%. Las Vegas Sands’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 50.76%.

Las Vegas Sands 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.