Hsbc Holdings PLC Sells 54,139 Shares of Las Vegas Sands Corp. $LVS

Hsbc Holdings PLC reduced its stake in Las Vegas Sands Corp. (NYSE:LVS) by 9.7% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 503,048 shares of the casino operator’s stock after selling 54,139 shares during the period. Hsbc Holdings PLC’s holdings in Las Vegas Sands were worth $32,741,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Wick Capital Partners LLC bought a new position in Las Vegas Sands during the 4th quarter worth approximately $349,000. Groupama Asset Managment acquired a new stake in shares of Las Vegas Sands during the fourth quarter worth $589,000. Westshore Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Las Vegas Sands during the fourth quarter worth $227,000. Pacer Advisors Inc. raised its stake in Las Vegas Sands by 2.1% during the fourth quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 25,175 shares of the casino operator’s stock worth $1,639,000 after buying an additional 517 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Kera Capital Partners Inc. bought a new position in Las Vegas Sands during the fourth quarter worth $396,000. 39.16% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have commented on LVS shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut their price target on shares of Las Vegas Sands from $77.00 to $73.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 23rd. HSBC lifted their price objective on Las Vegas Sands from $73.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 23rd. Mizuho boosted their price objective on Las Vegas Sands from $65.00 to $67.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on Las Vegas Sands from $71.00 to $68.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 23rd. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group lifted their target price on Las Vegas Sands from $61.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, April 23rd. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Las Vegas Sands currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $67.91.

Las Vegas Sands Stock Up 0.2%

Shares of NYSE LVS opened at $47.90 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.91, a current ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.64. The firm has a market cap of $31.74 billion, a PE ratio of 17.74, a P/E/G ratio of 1.08 and a beta of 0.81. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $51.89 and its 200 day simple moving average is $56.38. Las Vegas Sands Corp. has a 12-month low of $42.06 and a 12-month high of $70.45.

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 $3.58 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.32 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.59 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 25.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Las Vegas Sands Corp. will post 3.38 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Las Vegas Sands Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 13th. Investors of record on Tuesday, May 5th were given a $0.30 dividend. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, May 5th. Las Vegas Sands’s payout ratio is presently 44.44%.

Las Vegas Sands Company Profile

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.