Pinnacle Associates Ltd. Sells 86,807 Shares of Las Vegas Sands Corp. $LVS

Pinnacle Associates Ltd. trimmed its position in Las Vegas Sands Corp. (NYSE:LVS) by 21.8% during the second quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 310,677 shares of the casino operator’s stock after selling 86,807 shares during the period. Pinnacle Associates Ltd.’s holdings in Las Vegas Sands were worth $13,518,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. AdvisorShares Investments LLC lifted its stake in Las Vegas Sands by 18.2% in the 2nd quarter. AdvisorShares Investments LLC now owns 11,047 shares of the casino operator’s stock valued at $481,000 after purchasing an additional 1,704 shares during the last quarter. Assetmark Inc. grew its stake in shares of Las Vegas Sands by 14.2% in the 2nd quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 175,071 shares of the casino operator’s stock valued at $7,617,000 after buying an additional 21,831 shares during the period. Arkadios Wealth Advisors grew its position in Las Vegas Sands by 8.6% in the 2nd quarter. Arkadios Wealth Advisors now owns 14,866 shares of the casino operator’s stock valued at $647,000 after purchasing an additional 1,175 shares during the period. Flagship Harbor Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Las Vegas Sands during the 2nd quarter valued at about $266,000. Finally, Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund boosted its holdings in Las Vegas Sands by 1.1% during the 2nd quarter. Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund now owns 63,403 shares of the casino operator’s stock worth $2,759,000 after acquiring an additional 700 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 39.16% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Robert G. Goldstein sold 300,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $59.32, for a total value of $17,796,000.00. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 1.20% of the company’s stock.

Las Vegas Sands Price Performance

Shares of NYSE LVS opened at $58.88 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 7.42, a current ratio of 0.89 and a quick ratio of 1.21. The company has a market cap of $39.81 billion, a PE ratio of 26.64, a P/E/G ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 1.01. Las Vegas Sands Corp. has a 1-year low of $30.18 and a 1-year high of $59.66. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $53.79 and a 200 day moving average price of $47.56.

Las Vegas Sands (NYSE:LVS) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, October 22nd. The casino operator reported $0.78 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.62 by $0.16. Las Vegas Sands had a net margin of 12.69% and a return on equity of 73.14%. The company had revenue of $3.33 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.04 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.44 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 24.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts forecast that Las Vegas Sands Corp. will post 2.6 EPS for the current year.

Las Vegas Sands Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 12th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, November 4th will be given a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, November 4th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.7%. Las Vegas Sands’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 45.25%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently issued reports on the stock. UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of Las Vegas Sands from $55.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, August 28th. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Las Vegas Sands from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, October 10th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price target on shares of Las Vegas Sands from $57.00 to $64.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, October 24th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Las Vegas Sands in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised shares of Las Vegas Sands from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Sunday, September 7th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have given a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $64.13.

About Las Vegas Sands

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.