Las Vegas Sands Corp. $LVS Shares Sold by Forsta AP Fonden

Forsta AP Fonden lowered its position in Las Vegas Sands Corp. (NYSE:LVS) by 13.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 203,900 shares of the casino operator’s stock after selling 31,900 shares during the period. Forsta AP Fonden’s holdings in Las Vegas Sands were worth $13,272,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in LVS. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Las Vegas Sands during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $364,892,000. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership lifted its position in shares of Las Vegas Sands by 410.2% during the 3rd quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 5,167,553 shares of the casino operator’s stock valued at $277,963,000 after acquiring an additional 4,154,753 shares during the period. M&T Bank Corp lifted its position in shares of Las Vegas Sands by 33,102.6% during the 4th quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 3,060,288 shares of the casino operator’s stock valued at $197,463,000 after acquiring an additional 3,051,071 shares during the period. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC lifted its position in shares of Las Vegas Sands by 43.8% during the 3rd quarter. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC now owns 5,454,013 shares of the casino operator’s stock valued at $293,371,000 after acquiring an additional 1,660,823 shares during the period. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Las Vegas Sands by 64.5% during the 3rd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 2,819,128 shares of the casino operator’s stock valued at $151,641,000 after acquiring an additional 1,105,630 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 39.16% of the company’s stock.

Las Vegas Sands Stock Down 0.2%

LVS stock opened at $50.46 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $33.44 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.69, a PEG ratio of 1.15 and a beta of 0.81. 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 one year low of $40.03 and a one year high of $70.45. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $53.14 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $58.34.

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

Las Vegas Sands Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, May 5th. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.4%. Las Vegas Sands’s payout ratio is currently 44.44%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on shares of Las Vegas Sands from $72.00 to $74.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 23rd. Seaport Research Partners reduced their price target on shares of Las Vegas Sands from $72.00 to $69.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 21st. Mizuho lifted their price objective on Las Vegas Sands from $65.00 to $67.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 23rd. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price objective on Las Vegas Sands from $61.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 23rd. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on Las Vegas Sands from $67.00 to $69.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 23rd. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $68.28.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Patrick Dumont sold 60,165 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $54.75, for a total value of $3,294,033.75. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 511,942 shares in the company, valued at approximately $28,028,824.50. This trade represents a 10.52% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.55% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.