Morgan Stanley Cuts Las Vegas Sands (NYSE:LVS) Price Target to $61.00

Las Vegas Sands (NYSE:LVS) had its price objective decreased by Morgan Stanley from $68.00 to $61.00 in a research note issued to investors on Monday, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Morgan Stanley currently has an equal weight rating on the casino operator’s stock.

A number of other research analysts also recently weighed in on LVS. Weiss Ratings downgraded Las Vegas Sands from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 26th. UBS Group set a $52.00 price objective on Las Vegas Sands in a report on Thursday, July 2nd. Zacks Research cut shares of Las Vegas Sands from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 23rd. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their target price on shares of Las Vegas Sands from $74.00 to $60.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, July 23rd. Finally, Citigroup lowered their target price on shares of Las Vegas Sands from $78.50 to $73.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, July 10th. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $61.88.

Las Vegas Sands Trading Up 0.7%

Shares of NYSE:LVS opened at $48.60 on Monday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $48.13 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $52.84. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 15.27, a current ratio of 1.00 and a quick ratio of 0.91. Las Vegas Sands has a one year low of $44.21 and a one year high of $70.45. The stock has a market capitalization of $31.48 billion, a PE ratio of 18.91, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.26 and a beta of 0.83.

Las Vegas Sands (NYSE:LVS) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 22nd. The casino operator reported $0.59 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.76 by ($0.17). The business had revenue of $3.15 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.31 billion. Las Vegas Sands had a return on equity of 133.90% and a net margin of 12.59%.The company’s quarterly revenue was down .7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.66 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast that Las Vegas Sands will post 3.13 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Las Vegas Sands Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, August 12th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, August 4th will be paid a dividend of $0.30 per share. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.5%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, August 4th. Las Vegas Sands’s payout ratio is currently 46.69%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Las Vegas Sands

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Mackenzie Financial Corp boosted its position in Las Vegas Sands by 0.3% during the third quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 53,945 shares of the casino operator’s stock worth $2,902,000 after purchasing an additional 156 shares during the period. Parallel Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Las Vegas Sands by 7.8% during the 3rd quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 2,449 shares of the casino operator’s stock worth $132,000 after buying an additional 177 shares during the last quarter. &PARTNERS lifted its stake in shares of Las Vegas Sands by 3.2% during the 4th quarter. &PARTNERS now owns 6,930 shares of the casino operator’s stock worth $453,000 after buying an additional 214 shares during the last quarter. United Capital Financial Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Las Vegas Sands by 5.5% during the 3rd quarter. United Capital Financial Advisors LLC now owns 4,945 shares of the casino operator’s stock worth $266,000 after buying an additional 258 shares during the period. Finally, Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC grew its stake in Las Vegas Sands by 4.2% in the 4th quarter. Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC now owns 6,859 shares of the casino operator’s stock valued at $446,000 after buying an additional 279 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 39.16% of the company’s stock.

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.