Virtu Financial LLC Invests $682,000 in Las Vegas Sands Corp. $LVS

Virtu Financial LLC acquired a new stake in Las Vegas Sands Corp. (NYSE:LVS) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 10,486 shares of the casino operator’s stock, valued at approximately $682,000.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Wealthfront Advisers LLC boosted its stake in shares of Las Vegas Sands by 40.6% during the 4th quarter. Wealthfront Advisers LLC now owns 67,446 shares of the casino operator’s stock worth $4,390,000 after purchasing an additional 19,488 shares during the last quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Las Vegas Sands by 411.5% during the fourth quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. now owns 44,208 shares of the casino operator’s stock valued at $2,877,000 after buying an additional 35,566 shares during the period. Perpetual Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Las Vegas Sands during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $2,051,000. Swiss Life Asset Management Ltd boosted its position in Las Vegas Sands by 116.2% during the fourth quarter. Swiss Life Asset Management Ltd now owns 148,196 shares of the casino operator’s stock worth $9,646,000 after acquiring an additional 79,641 shares during the last quarter. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC boosted its position in Las Vegas Sands by 2,655.3% during the fourth quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 878,022 shares of the casino operator’s stock worth $57,150,000 after acquiring an additional 846,155 shares during the last quarter. 39.16% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on the company. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on Las Vegas Sands from $72.00 to $74.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 23rd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reduced their target price on Las Vegas Sands from $77.00 to $73.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 23rd. Wall Street Zen lowered Las Vegas Sands from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, May 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on Las Vegas Sands from $71.00 to $68.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 23rd. Finally, HSBC upped their price objective on shares of Las Vegas Sands from $73.00 to $78.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 23rd. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $67.91.

Las Vegas Sands Price Performance

Las Vegas Sands stock opened at $47.73 on Tuesday. Las Vegas Sands Corp. has a 52-week low of $40.94 and a 52-week high of $70.45. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $52.00 and a 200-day moving average of $56.51. The firm has a market capitalization of $31.63 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.68, a PEG ratio of 1.10 and a beta of 0.81. The company has a quick ratio of 0.91, a current ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.64.

Las Vegas Sands (NYSE:LVS) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, April 22nd. The casino operator reported $0.91 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.76 by $0.15. Las Vegas Sands had a return on equity of 118.27% and a net margin of 13.41%.The company had revenue of $3.58 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.32 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.59 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 25.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts predict that Las Vegas Sands Corp. will post 3.38 EPS for the current year.

Las Vegas Sands Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 13th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, May 5th were given a dividend of $0.30 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, May 5th. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.5%. Las Vegas Sands’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 44.44%.

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.