Mizuho Securities Co. Ltd. Acquires Shares of 800 Las Vegas Sands Corp. (NYSE:LVS)

Mizuho Securities Co. Ltd. acquired a new stake in Las Vegas Sands Corp. (NYSE:LVS) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund acquired 800 shares of the casino operator’s stock, valued at approximately $39,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in Las Vegas Sands by 0.4% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 32,634,143 shares of the casino operator’s stock valued at $1,495,949,000 after acquiring an additional 124,008 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp raised its holdings in shares of Las Vegas Sands by 3.6% during the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 2,873,525 shares of the casino operator’s stock worth $131,722,000 after buying an additional 98,658 shares in the last quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group raised its holdings in shares of Las Vegas Sands by 27.9% during the 3rd quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group now owns 2,850,081 shares of the casino operator’s stock worth $130,648,000 after buying an additional 622,480 shares in the last quarter. Charles Lim Capital Ltd raised its holdings in shares of Las Vegas Sands by 296.2% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Lim Capital Ltd now owns 2,575,000 shares of the casino operator’s stock worth $118,038,000 after buying an additional 1,925,000 shares in the last quarter. Finally, PointState Capital LP raised its holdings in shares of Las Vegas Sands by 81.9% during the 3rd quarter. PointState Capital LP now owns 1,927,404 shares of the casino operator’s stock worth $88,352,000 after buying an additional 868,005 shares in the last quarter. 39.16% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Robert G. Goldstein sold 100,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $52.06, for a total value of $5,206,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 172,801 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,996,020.06. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 1.20% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Las Vegas Sands Trading Down 1.2 %

Shares of NYSE LVS traded down $0.55 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $46.01. The company had a trading volume of 7,964,308 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,738,979. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $51.74 and its 200-day moving average price is $49.69. Las Vegas Sands Corp. has a 12 month low of $43.77 and a 12 month high of $65.58. The stock has a market cap of $34.57 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.23, a PEG ratio of 0.84 and a beta of 1.17. The company has a quick ratio of 1.30, a current ratio of 1.31 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.96.

Las Vegas Sands (NYSE:LVS) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 17th. The casino operator reported $0.75 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.62 by $0.13. Las Vegas Sands had a return on equity of 41.81% and a net margin of 13.99%. The firm had revenue of $2.86 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.94 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.28 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 34.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts expect that Las Vegas Sands Corp. will post 2.65 earnings per share for the current year.

Las Vegas Sands Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, May 7th will be paid a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.74%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, May 6th. Las Vegas Sands’s dividend payout ratio is 38.65%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on LVS shares. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on Las Vegas Sands from $62.00 to $60.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 18th. Barclays lowered their price target on Las Vegas Sands from $60.00 to $59.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 18th. Mizuho lowered their price target on Las Vegas Sands from $70.00 to $65.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 18th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on Las Vegas Sands from $61.00 to $62.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 9th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded Las Vegas Sands from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $63.46.

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.