Norges Bank Acquires Shares of 4,216,720 Las Vegas Sands Corp. (NYSE:LVS)

Norges Bank bought a new position in Las Vegas Sands Corp. (NYSE:LVS) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm bought 4,216,720 shares of the casino operator’s stock, valued at approximately $216,571,000. Norges Bank owned approximately 0.58% of Las Vegas Sands at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of LVS. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB purchased a new position in Las Vegas Sands in the 3rd quarter worth about $26,000. Bank of Jackson Hole Trust purchased a new stake in Las Vegas Sands during the fourth quarter valued at $26,000. UMB Bank n.a. boosted its holdings in shares of Las Vegas Sands by 73.5% in the fourth quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 583 shares of the casino operator’s stock worth $30,000 after buying an additional 247 shares during the last quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC grew its position in shares of Las Vegas Sands by 63.0% during the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 885 shares of the casino operator’s stock valued at $45,000 after acquiring an additional 342 shares during the period. Finally, Kestra Investment Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Las Vegas Sands during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $47,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 39.16% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

LVS has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Barclays dropped their price objective on Las Vegas Sands from $61.00 to $58.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on shares of Las Vegas Sands from $62.00 to $61.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on shares of Las Vegas Sands from $60.00 to $59.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Macquarie upped their target price on shares of Las Vegas Sands from $57.00 to $58.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. Finally, Citigroup lifted 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. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Las Vegas Sands presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $59.42.

Las Vegas Sands Trading Down 5.4 %

LVS opened at $38.15 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.73, a current ratio of 0.74 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.35. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $43.56 and its two-hundred day moving average is $47.81. The company has a market capitalization of $27.31 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.36, a PEG ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 1.07. Las Vegas Sands Corp. has a 52 week low of $36.62 and a 52 week high of $56.61.

Las Vegas Sands (NYSE:LVS) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The casino operator reported $0.54 EPS 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%. Analysts forecast that Las Vegas Sands Corp. will post 2.6 earnings per share for the current year.

Las Vegas Sands Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, February 19th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 10th were paid a dividend of $0.25 per share. This is a positive change from Las Vegas Sands’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 10th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.62%. Las Vegas Sands’s payout ratio is presently 50.76%.

About Las Vegas Sands

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.