Las Vegas Sands Corp. $LVS Shares Acquired by American Century Companies Inc.

American Century Companies Inc. boosted its holdings in Las Vegas Sands Corp. (NYSE:LVS) by 27.5% in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 859,591 shares of the casino operator’s stock after purchasing an additional 185,630 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc.’s holdings in Las Vegas Sands were worth $46,237,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of LVS. Total Investment Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Las Vegas Sands in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Westside Investment Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Las Vegas Sands by 48.0% during the third quarter. Westside Investment Management Inc. now owns 512 shares of the casino operator’s stock worth $28,000 after buying an additional 166 shares in the last quarter. Root Financial Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Las Vegas Sands in the third quarter worth $33,000. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in Las Vegas Sands by 549.5% in the third quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 630 shares of the casino operator’s stock valued at $35,000 after acquiring an additional 533 shares in the last quarter. Finally, MAI Capital Management boosted its stake in Las Vegas Sands by 78.4% during the 3rd quarter. MAI Capital Management now owns 710 shares of the casino operator’s stock valued at $38,000 after acquiring an additional 312 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 39.16% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Las Vegas Sands

In other Las Vegas Sands news, CEO Robert G. Goldstein sold 1,198,650 shares of Las Vegas Sands stock in a transaction on Wednesday, December 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $66.68, for a total transaction of $79,925,982.00. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, major shareholder Miriam Adelson sold 77,991 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, the insider owned 23,333,441 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,576,407,273.96. This trade represents a 0.33% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 2,477,991 shares of company stock valued at $165,323,554. Insiders own 1.20% of the company’s stock.

Las Vegas Sands Stock Performance

Shares of LVS opened at $55.12 on Friday. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $58.97 and a 200-day moving average of $58.91. The company has a market cap of $37.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.56, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 0.88. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 7.58, a quick ratio of 1.13 and a current ratio of 1.14. Las Vegas Sands Corp. has a 1 year low of $30.18 and a 1 year high of $70.45.

Las Vegas Sands (NYSE:LVS) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 28th. The casino operator reported $0.85 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.77 by $0.08. The firm had revenue of $3.65 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.33 billion. Las Vegas Sands had a net margin of 12.50% and a return on equity of 91.40%. Las Vegas Sands’s quarterly revenue was up 26.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.54 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Las Vegas Sands Corp. will post 2.6 earnings per share for the current year.

Las Vegas Sands Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, February 18th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 9th were issued a dividend of $0.30 per share. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.2%. This is a boost from Las Vegas Sands’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 9th. Las Vegas Sands’s dividend payout ratio is presently 51.28%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have weighed in on LVS. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Las Vegas Sands from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, February 14th. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their price target on Las Vegas Sands from $78.00 to $72.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 30th. Mizuho boosted their price objective on Las Vegas Sands from $63.00 to $65.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, January 29th. Macquarie Infrastructure reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $70.00 target price on shares of Las Vegas Sands in a report on Thursday, January 29th. Finally, UBS Group lifted their target price on Las Vegas Sands from $67.00 to $68.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, December 8th. Twelve investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $68.55.

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.