VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al Increases Stock Holdings in Las Vegas Sands Corp. $LVS

VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al boosted its position in shares of Las Vegas Sands Corp. (NYSE:LVS) by 2,990.3% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 349,200 shares of the casino operator’s stock after acquiring an additional 337,900 shares during the quarter. VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al’s holdings in Las Vegas Sands were worth $22,729,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Grove Bank & Trust purchased a new position in Las Vegas Sands during the 4th quarter valued at about $26,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in Las Vegas Sands during the 4th quarter valued at about $26,000. Westside Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Las Vegas Sands by 48.0% during the 3rd quarter. Westside Investment Management Inc. now owns 512 shares of the casino operator’s stock valued at $28,000 after acquiring an additional 166 shares during the period. Root Financial Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Las Vegas Sands during the 3rd quarter worth about $33,000. Finally, Smartleaf Asset Management LLC raised its position in Las Vegas Sands by 549.5% in the 3rd quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 630 shares of the casino operator’s stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 533 shares in the last quarter. 39.16% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Las Vegas Sands

In other Las Vegas Sands news, CEO Patrick Dumont sold 60,165 shares of Las Vegas Sands stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $54.75, for a total value of $3,294,033.75. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 511,942 shares in the company, valued at approximately $28,028,824.50. This trade represents a 10.52% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.55% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have issued reports on LVS. Wall Street Zen lowered Las Vegas Sands from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, February 14th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on Las Vegas Sands from $72.00 to $74.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 23rd. Citigroup upped their price target on Las Vegas Sands from $76.75 to $78.50 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, April 13th. Mizuho upped their price target on Las Vegas Sands from $65.00 to $67.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, April 23rd. Finally, Barclays upped their price target on Las Vegas Sands from $64.00 to $65.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, April 23rd. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Las Vegas Sands presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $68.28.

Las Vegas Sands Trading Down 0.8%

LVS opened at $51.30 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $33.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.00, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.17 and a beta of 0.85. Las Vegas Sands Corp. has a 52 week low of $39.29 and a 52 week high of $70.45. The business’s 50 day moving average is $54.16 and its two-hundred day moving average is $59.25. The company has a quick ratio of 0.91, a current ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.64.

Las Vegas Sands (NYSE:LVS) last released its quarterly 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. Las Vegas Sands had a return on equity of 118.27% and a net margin of 13.41%.The company had revenue of $3.59 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.32 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.59 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 25.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts predict that Las Vegas Sands Corp. will post 3.38 EPS for the current year.

Las Vegas Sands Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 13th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, May 5th were paid a $0.30 dividend. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.3%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, May 5th. Las Vegas Sands’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 44.44%.

Las Vegas Sands 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.