ING Groep NV Invests $465,000 in Las Vegas Sands Corp. (NYSE:LVS)

ING Groep NV purchased a new position in Las Vegas Sands Corp. (NYSE:LVS) during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm purchased 9,049 shares of the casino operator’s stock, valued at approximately $465,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of LVS. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB acquired a new position in shares of Las Vegas Sands in the third quarter worth $26,000. Bank of Jackson Hole Trust acquired a new position in shares of Las Vegas Sands in the fourth quarter worth $26,000. UMB Bank n.a. increased its stake 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 acquiring an additional 247 shares during the last quarter. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC acquired a new position in shares of Las Vegas Sands in the third quarter worth $34,000. Finally, Vestor Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of Las Vegas Sands in the third quarter worth $43,000. 39.16% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

LVS has been the topic of several analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price 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. UBS Group increased their target price on shares of Las Vegas Sands from $49.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. Citigroup increased their target price on shares of Las Vegas Sands from $64.50 to $67.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Barclays lowered their target price on shares of Las Vegas Sands from $61.00 to $58.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on shares of Las Vegas Sands from $62.00 to $61.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Las Vegas Sands has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $59.42.

Las Vegas Sands Stock Up 2.4 %

LVS stock opened at $45.08 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.35, a current ratio of 0.74 and a quick ratio of 0.73. The company has a 50-day moving average of $46.61 and a two-hundred day moving average of $47.22. Las Vegas Sands Corp. has a 52-week low of $36.62 and a 52-week high of $56.60. The stock has a market capitalization of $32.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.88, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 1.08.

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 analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.58 by ($0.04). Las Vegas Sands had a return on equity of 45.82% and a net margin of 12.80%. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Las Vegas Sands Corp. will post 2.6 EPS for the current year.

Las Vegas Sands Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, February 19th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 10th were paid a dividend of $0.25 per share. This is a boost 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 yield of 2.22%. Las Vegas Sands’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 50.76%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Robert G. Goldstein sold 60,187 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.91% of the company’s stock.

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.