Osaic Holdings Inc. Purchases 27,140 Shares of Las Vegas Sands Corp. $LVS

Osaic Holdings Inc. lifted its position in Las Vegas Sands Corp. (NYSE:LVS) by 23.0% in the second quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 145,257 shares of the casino operator’s stock after purchasing an additional 27,140 shares during the period. Osaic Holdings Inc.’s holdings in Las Vegas Sands were worth $6,298,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in Las Vegas Sands by 4.4% during the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 43,072,014 shares of the casino operator’s stock worth $1,874,063,000 after acquiring an additional 1,822,806 shares during the last quarter. ARGA Investment Management LP grew its position in shares of Las Vegas Sands by 36.8% in the second quarter. ARGA Investment Management LP now owns 10,040,975 shares of the casino operator’s stock valued at $436,883,000 after purchasing an additional 2,698,398 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. increased its stake in shares of Las Vegas Sands by 4.9% in the second quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 9,902,619 shares of the casino operator’s stock worth $430,863,000 after purchasing an additional 459,821 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Las Vegas Sands by 0.4% during the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 8,823,966 shares of the casino operator’s stock worth $382,294,000 after purchasing an additional 31,153 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Las Vegas Sands during the 2nd quarter worth about $134,179,000. 39.16% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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 legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, COO Patrick Dumont sold 210,305 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $69.96, for a total transaction of $14,712,937.80. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer directly owned 446,608 shares in the company, valued at approximately $31,244,695.68. The trade was a 32.01% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 5,182,053 shares of company stock valued at $333,348,399. Company insiders own 1.20% of the company’s stock.

Las Vegas Sands Stock Performance

NYSE:LVS opened at $66.92 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $45.25 billion, a PE ratio of 30.28, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.82 and a beta of 0.97. The company has a quick ratio of 0.88, a current ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 7.42. Las Vegas Sands Corp. has a 12-month low of $30.18 and a 12-month high of $70.45. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $62.56 and a 200 day moving average price of $54.80.

Las Vegas Sands (NYSE:LVS) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 22nd. The casino operator reported $0.78 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.62 by $0.16. Las Vegas Sands had a return on equity of 73.14% and a net margin of 12.69%.The company had revenue of $3.33 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.04 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.44 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 24.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts anticipate that Las Vegas Sands Corp. will post 2.6 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Las Vegas Sands Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 12th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, November 4th were paid a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.5%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, November 4th. Las Vegas Sands’s dividend payout ratio is currently 45.25%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have issued reports on the company. The Goldman Sachs Group raised Las Vegas Sands from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their target price for the company from $64.00 to $80.00 in a report on Monday, December 15th. Susquehanna boosted their target price on shares of Las Vegas Sands from $62.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 22nd. Macquarie upped their target price on shares of Las Vegas Sands from $62.00 to $64.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 23rd. Citigroup raised their price target on shares of Las Vegas Sands from $75.50 to $76.75 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 11th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised shares of Las Vegas Sands from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, December 13th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Las Vegas Sands has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $67.52.

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.