Prospera Financial Services Inc Purchases New Position in Las Vegas Sands Corp. $LVS

Prospera Financial Services Inc purchased a new stake in Las Vegas Sands Corp. (NYSE:LVS) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm purchased 45,509 shares of the casino operator’s stock, valued at approximately $2,963,000.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Grove Bank & Trust bought a new stake in Las Vegas Sands in the fourth quarter worth about $26,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in Las Vegas Sands in the fourth quarter worth about $26,000. Westside Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in Las Vegas Sands by 48.0% in the third quarter. Westside Investment Management Inc. now owns 512 shares of the casino operator’s stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 166 shares during the last quarter. Root Financial Partners LLC bought a new stake in Las Vegas Sands in the third quarter worth about $33,000. Finally, Smartleaf Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in Las Vegas Sands by 549.5% in the third quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 630 shares of the casino operator’s stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 533 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 39.16% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have issued reports on the stock. Macquarie Infrastructure reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $70.00 price objective on shares of Las Vegas Sands in a research note on Thursday, January 29th. Seaport Research Partners decreased their price objective on shares of Las Vegas Sands from $72.00 to $69.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 21st. HSBC raised their price objective on shares of Las Vegas Sands from $73.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 23rd. Citigroup raised their price objective on shares of Las Vegas Sands from $76.75 to $78.50 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, April 13th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on shares of Las Vegas Sands from $72.00 to $74.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 23rd. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $68.28.

Las Vegas Sands Stock Performance

Las Vegas Sands stock opened at $49.77 on Wednesday. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $53.33 and a 200-day moving average price of $58.63. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.64, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a current ratio of 0.92. Las Vegas Sands Corp. has a fifty-two week low of $40.03 and a fifty-two week high of $70.45. The company has a market capitalization of $32.98 billion, a PE ratio of 18.43, a P/E/G ratio of 1.12 and a beta of 0.85.

Las Vegas Sands (NYSE:LVS) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 22nd. The casino operator reported $0.91 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.76 by $0.15. Las Vegas Sands had a net margin of 13.41% and a return on equity of 118.27%. The firm had revenue of $3.59 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.32 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.59 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 25.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Las Vegas Sands Corp. will post 3.38 earnings per share for the current year.

Las Vegas Sands Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 13th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, May 5th were paid a dividend of $0.30 per share. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, May 5th. Las Vegas Sands’s payout ratio is currently 44.44%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Las Vegas Sands

In other news, CEO Patrick Dumont sold 60,165 shares of Las Vegas Sands stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $54.75, for a total transaction of $3,294,033.75. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 511,942 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $28,028,824.50. The trade was a 10.52% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.55% of the company’s stock.

About Las Vegas Sands

Las Vegas Sands (NYSE: LVS) is a global developer and operator of integrated resorts, focused on large-scale properties that combine casino gaming with hotels, convention and exhibition facilities, retail, dining, and entertainment. The company’s operations center on developing and managing full-service resort complexes that serve both leisure and business travelers, with emphasis on convention and trade-show business in addition to gaming revenue streams.

The company’s portfolio has included prominent properties in North America and Asia, most notably The Venetian Resort in Las Vegas and Marina Bay Sands in Singapore, along with a significant presence in Macau through multiple integrated resorts.