Las Vegas Sands Corp. (NYSE:LVS) Shares Bought by Franklin Resources Inc.

Franklin Resources Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Las Vegas Sands Corp. (NYSE:LVS) by 10.8% during the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 115,803 shares of the casino operator’s stock after purchasing an additional 11,261 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc.’s holdings in Las Vegas Sands were worth $6,053,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Janus Henderson Group PLC raised its position in shares of Las Vegas Sands by 159.6% during the 3rd quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 9,130,486 shares of the casino operator’s stock worth $459,630,000 after buying an additional 5,612,975 shares in the last quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company boosted its stake in Las Vegas Sands by 987.0% during the 2nd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 5,549,615 shares of the casino operator’s stock valued at $245,570,000 after purchasing an additional 5,039,072 shares in the last quarter. Charles Lim Capital Ltd raised its stake in shares of Las Vegas Sands by 178.3% in the 2nd quarter. Charles Lim Capital Ltd now owns 1,600,000 shares of the casino operator’s stock worth $70,800,000 after buying an additional 1,025,000 shares in the last quarter. ARGA Investment Management LP lifted its holdings in shares of Las Vegas Sands by 24.8% in the third quarter. ARGA Investment Management LP now owns 4,924,340 shares of the casino operator’s stock valued at $247,891,000 after buying an additional 977,636 shares during the period. Finally, Renaissance Technologies LLC boosted its stake in Las Vegas Sands by 44.1% during the second quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 2,949,670 shares of the casino operator’s stock valued at $130,523,000 after buying an additional 903,400 shares in the last quarter. 39.16% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Las Vegas Sands Price Performance

NYSE LVS opened at $52.25 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.09, a current ratio of 0.90 and a quick ratio of 0.89. The firm has a market capitalization of $37.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.87, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.44 and a beta of 1.10. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $51.82 and a 200-day simple moving average of $45.90. Las Vegas Sands Corp. has a 52-week low of $36.62 and a 52-week high of $56.60.

Las Vegas Sands (NYSE:LVS) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The casino operator reported $0.44 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.53 by ($0.09). Las Vegas Sands had a return on equity of 44.26% and a net margin of 13.29%. The company had revenue of $2.68 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.79 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.55 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 4.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts predict that Las Vegas Sands Corp. will post 2.33 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Las Vegas Sands Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 13th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, November 5th were paid a $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, November 5th. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.53%. Las Vegas Sands’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 39.60%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Robert G. Goldstein sold 24,324 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $52.00, for a total transaction of $1,264,848.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 60,187 shares in the company, valued at $3,129,724. This represents a 28.78 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Robert G. Goldstein sold 60,187 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $53.02, for a total transaction of $3,191,114.74. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 203,732 shares of company stock valued at $10,861,707 in the last three months. Insiders own 0.91% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on LVS shares. UBS Group upped their price target on shares of Las Vegas Sands from $49.00 to $50.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on Las Vegas Sands from $60.00 to $62.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, December 13th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on Las Vegas Sands from $53.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their target price on Las Vegas Sands from $55.00 to $64.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Finally, Barclays upped their target price on Las Vegas Sands from $58.00 to $61.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, December 13th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $58.42.

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.