Silvant Capital Management LLC Grows Stock Position in Las Vegas Sands Corp. $LVS

Silvant Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Las Vegas Sands Corp. (NYSE:LVS) by 2.5% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 384,295 shares of the casino operator’s stock after purchasing an additional 9,322 shares during the quarter. Las Vegas Sands accounts for 0.7% of Silvant Capital Management LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 22nd largest holding. Silvant Capital Management LLC owned about 0.06% of Las Vegas Sands worth $20,671,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. 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. Parallel Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Las Vegas Sands by 7.8% in the third quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 2,449 shares of the casino operator’s stock worth $132,000 after acquiring an additional 177 shares during the last quarter. Alps Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in Las Vegas Sands by 2.4% during the 3rd quarter. Alps Advisors Inc. now owns 8,528 shares of the casino operator’s stock worth $459,000 after acquiring an additional 197 shares in the last quarter. Horizon Kinetics Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in Las Vegas Sands by 0.3% during the 2nd quarter. Horizon Kinetics Asset Management LLC now owns 61,993 shares of the casino operator’s stock worth $2,697,000 after acquiring an additional 213 shares in the last quarter. Finally, MAI Capital Management lifted its position in shares of Las Vegas Sands by 78.4% during the 3rd quarter. MAI Capital Management now owns 710 shares of the casino operator’s stock worth $38,000 after purchasing an additional 312 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 39.16% of the company’s stock.

Las Vegas Sands Stock Performance

NYSE LVS opened at $54.25 on Wednesday. The company has a fifty day moving average of $58.26 and a two-hundred day moving average of $58.99. The company has a market capitalization of $36.45 billion, a PE ratio of 23.19, a P/E/G ratio of 1.38 and a beta of 0.88. Las Vegas Sands Corp. has a 1 year low of $30.18 and a 1 year high of $70.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 7.58, a current ratio of 1.14 and a quick ratio of 1.13.

Las Vegas Sands (NYSE:LVS) last posted its earnings results 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 business had revenue of $3.65 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.33 billion. Las Vegas Sands had a return on equity of 91.40% and a net margin of 12.50%.The business’s quarterly revenue was up 26.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.54 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that Las Vegas Sands Corp. will post 2.6 earnings per share for the current year.

Las Vegas Sands Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, February 18th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 9th were paid a $0.30 dividend. This is an increase from Las Vegas Sands’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.2%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 9th. Las Vegas Sands’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 51.28%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

LVS has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Las Vegas Sands in a research note on Monday, December 29th. UBS Group upped their price objective 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. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price objective on Las Vegas Sands from $76.00 to $77.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 29th. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their target price on Las Vegas Sands from $80.00 to $73.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 29th. Finally, Mizuho boosted their target price on Las Vegas Sands from $63.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 29th. Twelve equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Las Vegas Sands presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $68.55.

Insider Activity at Las Vegas Sands

In other news, CEO Robert G. Goldstein sold 1,198,650 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, December 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $66.68, for a total transaction of $79,925,982.00. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, major shareholder Miriam Adelson sold 77,991 shares of Las Vegas Sands stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $67.56, for a total transaction of $5,269,071.96. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 23,333,441 shares in the company, valued at $1,576,407,273.96. The trade was a 0.33% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold 2,460,896 shares of company stock valued at $164,177,676 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 1.20% of the company’s stock.

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.