Maryland State Retirement & Pension System Acquires 2,882 Shares of Las Vegas Sands Corp. (NYSE:LVS)

Maryland State Retirement & Pension System raised its holdings in Las Vegas Sands Corp. (NYSE:LVS) by 11.4% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 28,147 shares of the casino operator’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,882 shares during the period. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System’s holdings in Las Vegas Sands were worth $1,385,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Charles Lim Capital Ltd grew its holdings in Las Vegas Sands by 296.2% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Lim Capital Ltd now owns 2,575,000 shares of the casino operator’s stock worth $118,038,000 after acquiring an additional 1,925,000 shares during the last quarter. Integrated Investment Consultants LLC bought a new stake in Las Vegas Sands in the 4th quarter valued at about $45,752,000. PointState Capital LP raised its position in shares of Las Vegas Sands by 81.9% during the third quarter. PointState Capital LP now owns 1,927,404 shares of the casino operator’s stock worth $88,352,000 after purchasing an additional 868,005 shares during the period. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC bought a new position in Las Vegas Sands in the 4th quarter valued at about $33,620,000. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in Las Vegas Sands by 6.4% during the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 11,275,127 shares of the casino operator’s stock worth $554,849,000 after buying an additional 680,575 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 39.16% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

LVS has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Mizuho cut their target price on Las Vegas Sands from $70.00 to $65.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 18th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Las Vegas Sands from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price target on Las Vegas Sands from $70.00 to $65.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 18th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their target price on Las Vegas Sands from $66.00 to $62.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 18th. Finally, Barclays lowered their price target on Las Vegas Sands from $60.00 to $59.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 18th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $63.46.

Insider Activity

In other Las Vegas Sands news, CEO Robert G. Goldstein sold 100,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $52.06, for a total transaction of $5,206,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 172,801 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,996,020.06. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 1.20% of the company’s stock.

Las Vegas Sands Price Performance

Shares of LVS stock opened at $46.77 on Thursday. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $50.07 and its 200-day moving average price is $49.71. Las Vegas Sands Corp. has a fifty-two week low of $43.77 and a fifty-two week high of $63.51. The firm has a market cap of $34.85 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.59, a P/E/G ratio of 0.87 and a beta of 1.18. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.96, a quick ratio of 1.29 and a current ratio of 1.30.

Las Vegas Sands (NYSE:LVS) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 17th. The casino operator reported $0.75 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.62 by $0.13. The business had revenue of $2.86 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.94 billion. Las Vegas Sands had a return on equity of 42.34% and a net margin of 13.99%. The business’s revenue was up 34.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.28 EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Las Vegas Sands Corp. will post 2.63 earnings per share for the current year.

Las Vegas Sands Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, May 7th will be issued a dividend of $0.20 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, May 6th. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.71%. Las Vegas Sands’s payout ratio is presently 38.65%.

Las Vegas Sands 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.