Franklin Resources Inc. Purchases 11,261 Shares of Las Vegas Sands Corp. (NYSE:LVS)

Franklin Resources Inc. increased its position in Las Vegas Sands Corp. (NYSE:LVS) by 10.8% during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 115,803 shares of the casino operator’s stock after buying an additional 11,261 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc.’s holdings in Las Vegas Sands were worth $6,053,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Meeder Asset Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Las Vegas Sands by 97.2% in the third quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. now owns 89,743 shares of the casino operator’s stock worth $4,518,000 after purchasing an additional 44,223 shares during the period. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company increased its position in Las Vegas Sands by 1.4% in the 3rd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 5,627,422 shares of the casino operator’s stock worth $283,284,000 after buying an additional 77,807 shares during the period. Sanctuary Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Las Vegas Sands during the second quarter worth approximately $619,000. Clearbridge Investments LLC grew its stake in shares of Las Vegas Sands by 29.9% in the second quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 833,487 shares of the casino operator’s stock worth $36,882,000 after acquiring an additional 191,805 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its position in Las Vegas Sands by 33.3% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 548,072 shares of the casino operator’s stock worth $27,590,000 after acquiring an additional 136,859 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 39.16% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have weighed in on LVS shares. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price target on shares of Las Vegas Sands from $55.00 to $64.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 24th. UBS Group increased their target price on shares of Las Vegas Sands from $49.00 to $50.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. Barclays boosted their price target on Las Vegas Sands from $58.00 to $61.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, December 13th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on Las Vegas Sands from $60.00 to $62.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on Las Vegas Sands from $50.00 to $55.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $58.42.

Las Vegas Sands Stock Performance

Las Vegas Sands stock opened at $52.25 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $37.88 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.87, a P/E/G ratio of 1.44 and a beta of 1.10. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $51.82 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $45.90. Las Vegas Sands Corp. has a 52-week low of $36.62 and a 52-week high of $56.60. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.09, a current ratio of 0.90 and a quick ratio of 0.89.

Las Vegas Sands (NYSE:LVS) last announced 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). The firm had revenue of $2.68 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.79 billion. Las Vegas Sands had a return on equity of 44.26% and a net margin of 13.29%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 4.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.55 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that Las Vegas Sands Corp. will post 2.33 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Las Vegas Sands Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Las Vegas Sands news, CEO Robert G. Goldstein sold 60,187 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $53.02, for a total transaction of $3,191,114.74. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Robert G. Goldstein sold 119,221 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $53.73, for a total transaction of $6,405,744.33. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 84,511 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,540,776.03. This represents a 58.52 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 203,732 shares of company stock worth $10,861,707 in the last three months. Insiders own 0.91% of the company’s stock.

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.