Securian Asset Management Inc. Sells 845 Shares of Las Vegas Sands Corp. (NYSE:LVS)

Securian Asset Management Inc. cut its holdings in Las Vegas Sands Corp. (NYSE:LVS) by 4.3% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 18,704 shares of the casino operator’s stock after selling 845 shares during the period. Securian Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Las Vegas Sands were worth $961,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Meeder Asset Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Las Vegas Sands by 97.2% in the 3rd quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. now owns 89,743 shares of the casino operator’s stock worth $4,518,000 after buying an additional 44,223 shares during the period. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. boosted its holdings in Las Vegas Sands by 32.2% in the 4th quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 32,948 shares of the casino operator’s stock worth $1,707,000 after buying an additional 8,032 shares during the period. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company boosted its holdings in Las Vegas Sands by 1.4% in the 3rd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 5,627,422 shares of the casino operator’s stock worth $283,284,000 after buying an additional 77,807 shares during the period. ARGA Investment Management LP boosted its holdings in Las Vegas Sands by 32.0% in the 4th quarter. ARGA Investment Management LP now owns 6,501,382 shares of the casino operator’s stock worth $333,911,000 after buying an additional 1,577,042 shares during the period. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in Las Vegas Sands by 1.2% in the 4th quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 13,810,351 shares of the casino operator’s stock worth $709,300,000 after buying an additional 160,711 shares during the period. 39.16% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have commented on LVS shares. Macquarie raised their price target on shares of Las Vegas Sands from $57.00 to $58.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on shares of Las Vegas Sands from $51.00 to $49.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, February 24th. Citigroup raised their price target on shares of Las Vegas Sands from $64.50 to $67.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut their price target on shares of Las Vegas Sands from $66.00 to $62.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Las Vegas Sands from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price target for the company from $60.00 to $69.00 in a report on Friday, January 3rd. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $59.42.

Las Vegas Sands Stock Performance

Las Vegas Sands stock opened at $43.11 on Friday. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $44.64 and its 200-day moving average price is $47.59. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.35, a quick ratio of 0.73 and a current ratio of 0.74. The stock has a market cap of $30.87 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.88, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 1.07. Las Vegas Sands Corp. has a fifty-two week low of $36.62 and a fifty-two week high of $56.61.

Las Vegas Sands (NYSE:LVS) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The casino operator reported $0.54 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.58 by ($0.04). Las Vegas Sands had a net margin of 12.80% and a return on equity of 45.82%. On average, equities research analysts expect that Las Vegas Sands Corp. will post 2.6 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Las Vegas Sands Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, February 19th. Investors of record on Monday, February 10th were given a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.32%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 10th. This is a boost from Las Vegas Sands’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. Las Vegas Sands’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 50.76%.

Las Vegas Sands Company 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.