Natixis Advisors LLC Cuts Holdings in Las Vegas Sands Corp. $LVS

Natixis Advisors LLC trimmed its holdings in shares of Las Vegas Sands Corp. (NYSE:LVS) by 77.3% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 43,592 shares of the casino operator’s stock after selling 148,475 shares during the quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC’s holdings in Las Vegas Sands were worth $2,837,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

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 fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in Las Vegas Sands during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in Las Vegas Sands by 549.5% during the third quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 630 shares of the casino operator’s stock valued at $35,000 after buying an additional 533 shares during the period. IFP Advisors Inc increased its holdings in Las Vegas Sands by 182.4% during the third quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 672 shares of the casino operator’s stock valued at $36,000 after buying an additional 434 shares during the period. Finally, MAI Capital Management increased its holdings in Las Vegas Sands by 78.4% during the third quarter. MAI Capital Management now owns 710 shares of the casino operator’s stock valued at $38,000 after buying an additional 312 shares during the period. 39.16% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Las Vegas Sands

In other news, CEO Patrick Dumont sold 60,165 shares of Las Vegas Sands stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $54.75, for a total transaction of $3,294,033.75. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 511,942 shares in the company, valued at approximately $28,028,824.50. The trade was 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. Insiders own 0.55% of the company’s stock.

Las Vegas Sands Price Performance

Shares of LVS opened at $51.63 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $34.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.12, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.15 and a beta of 0.81. Las Vegas Sands Corp. has a twelve month low of $40.03 and a twelve month high of $70.45. 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 company has a 50 day moving average of $52.84 and a two-hundred day moving average of $57.64.

Las Vegas Sands (NYSE:LVS) last announced its 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 company had revenue of $3.59 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.32 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.59 earnings per share. Las Vegas Sands’s revenue was up 25.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts predict that Las Vegas Sands Corp. will post 3.38 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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. 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 payout ratio is presently 44.44%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently issued reports on LVS. Mizuho lifted their price objective on shares of Las Vegas Sands from $65.00 to $67.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, April 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on shares of Las Vegas Sands from $71.00 to $68.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 23rd. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on shares of Las Vegas Sands from $72.00 to $74.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, April 23rd. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of Las Vegas Sands from $64.00 to $65.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, April 23rd. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of Las Vegas Sands from $67.00 to $69.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 23rd. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $67.91.

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.