Grantham Mayo Van Otterloo & Co. LLC Trims Stock Holdings in Las Vegas Sands Corp. (NYSE:LVS)

Grantham Mayo Van Otterloo & Co. LLC lowered its position in shares of Las Vegas Sands Corp. (NYSE:LVS) by 9.0% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 240,006 shares of the casino operator’s stock after selling 23,843 shares during the period. Grantham Mayo Van Otterloo & Co. LLC’s holdings in Las Vegas Sands were worth $12,327,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Fisher Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in Las Vegas Sands by 1.2% during the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 13,810,351 shares of the casino operator’s stock worth $709,300,000 after acquiring an additional 160,711 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its position in shares of Las Vegas Sands by 13.5% in the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 11,662,548 shares of the casino operator’s stock worth $598,988,000 after purchasing an additional 1,389,963 shares in the last quarter. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC grew its stake in shares of Las Vegas Sands by 29.8% in the 4th quarter. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC now owns 9,382,267 shares of the casino operator’s stock worth $481,873,000 after buying an additional 2,152,829 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in Las Vegas Sands by 0.9% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 8,637,600 shares of the casino operator’s stock valued at $443,086,000 after buying an additional 80,709 shares in the last quarter. Finally, ARGA Investment Management LP raised its stake in Las Vegas Sands by 32.0% during the fourth quarter. ARGA Investment Management LP now owns 6,501,382 shares of the casino operator’s stock valued at $333,911,000 after buying an additional 1,577,042 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 39.16% of the company’s stock.

Las Vegas Sands Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE LVS opened at $33.38 on Monday. Las Vegas Sands Corp. has a 12-month low of $31.54 and a 12-month high of $56.61. The firm has a market capitalization of $23.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.94, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 0.99. The company has a current ratio of 0.74, a quick ratio of 0.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.35. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $42.88 and a 200 day moving average of $47.71.

Las Vegas Sands (NYSE:LVS) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The casino operator reported $0.54 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates 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, research analysts anticipate that Las Vegas Sands Corp. will post 2.6 earnings per share for the current year.

Las Vegas Sands Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, February 19th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 10th were issued a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.00%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 10th. This is a positive change from Las Vegas Sands’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. Las Vegas Sands’s payout ratio is currently 50.76%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on the company. Jefferies Financial Group raised Las Vegas Sands from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $60.00 to $69.00 in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced 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 research note on Wednesday, January 29th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their target price 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. Morgan Stanley cut their target price on Las Vegas Sands from $51.00 to $49.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, February 24th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on shares of Las Vegas Sands from $60.00 to $59.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $59.42.

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.