GSA Capital Partners LLP Purchases Shares of 23,398 Las Vegas Sands Corp. $LVS

GSA Capital Partners LLP purchased a new stake in Las Vegas Sands Corp. (NYSE:LVS) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 23,398 shares of the casino operator’s stock, valued at approximately $1,523,000.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Mackenzie Financial Corp boosted its stake in shares of Las Vegas Sands by 0.3% in the 3rd quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 53,945 shares of the casino operator’s stock valued at $2,902,000 after purchasing an additional 156 shares during the last quarter. Westside Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Las Vegas Sands by 48.0% in the 3rd quarter. Westside Investment Management Inc. now owns 512 shares of the casino operator’s stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 166 shares during the last quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Las Vegas Sands by 7.8% in the 3rd quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 2,449 shares of the casino operator’s stock valued at $132,000 after purchasing an additional 177 shares during the last quarter. Alps Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Las Vegas Sands by 2.4% in the 3rd quarter. Alps Advisors Inc. now owns 8,528 shares of the casino operator’s stock valued at $459,000 after purchasing an additional 197 shares during the last quarter. Finally, United Capital Financial Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Las Vegas Sands by 5.5% in the 3rd quarter. United Capital Financial Advisors LLC now owns 4,945 shares of the casino operator’s stock valued at $266,000 after purchasing an additional 258 shares during the last quarter. 39.16% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on LVS shares. 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. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Las Vegas Sands from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, February 14th. Citigroup upped their price objective on shares of Las Vegas Sands from $76.75 to $78.50 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, April 13th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on shares of Las Vegas Sands from $68.00 to $65.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 16th. Finally, Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Las Vegas Sands from $64.00 to $65.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 23rd. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Las Vegas Sands currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $68.28.

Las Vegas Sands Stock Performance

LVS opened at $49.67 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 0.92, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.64. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $53.70 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $58.96. Las Vegas Sands Corp. has a 1-year low of $39.29 and a 1-year high of $70.45. The company has a market cap of $32.91 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.40, a PEG ratio of 1.13 and a beta of 0.85.

Las Vegas Sands (NYSE:LVS) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 net margin of 13.41% and a return on equity of 118.27%. The firm had revenue of $3.59 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.32 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.59 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 25.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts expect that Las Vegas Sands Corp. will post 3.38 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Las Vegas Sands Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 13th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, May 5th were issued a $0.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, May 5th. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.4%. Las Vegas Sands’s dividend payout ratio is currently 44.44%.

Insider Activity at Las Vegas Sands

In other news, CEO Patrick Dumont sold 60,165 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $54.75, for a total value of $3,294,033.75. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 511,942 shares in the company, valued at $28,028,824.50. This represents a 10.52% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.55% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Las Vegas Sands Profile

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.