Legal & General Group Plc Sells 23,209 Shares of Las Vegas Sands Corp. $LVS

Legal & General Group Plc decreased its holdings in shares of Las Vegas Sands Corp. (NYSE:LVS) by 1.3% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 1,798,911 shares of the casino operator’s stock after selling 23,209 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc’s holdings in Las Vegas Sands were worth $117,091,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in LVS. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership boosted its stake in Las Vegas Sands by 410.2% during the third quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 5,167,553 shares of the casino operator’s stock valued at $277,963,000 after buying an additional 4,154,753 shares during the period. M&T Bank Corp boosted its stake in Las Vegas Sands by 33,102.6% during the fourth quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 3,060,288 shares of the casino operator’s stock valued at $197,463,000 after buying an additional 3,051,071 shares during the period. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC boosted its stake in Las Vegas Sands by 43.8% during the third quarter. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC now owns 5,454,013 shares of the casino operator’s stock valued at $293,371,000 after buying an additional 1,660,823 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Las Vegas Sands by 64.5% during the third quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 2,819,128 shares of the casino operator’s stock valued at $151,641,000 after buying an additional 1,105,630 shares during the period. Finally, Schroder Investment Management Group boosted its stake in Las Vegas Sands by 4,504.2% during the third quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group now owns 1,028,808 shares of the casino operator’s stock valued at $55,340,000 after buying an additional 1,006,463 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 39.16% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions 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 dated Tuesday, March 17th. The stock was 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 owned 511,942 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $28,028,824.50. The trade was a 10.52% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.55% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Las Vegas Sands Trading Down 0.0%

Shares of LVS stock opened at $51.04 on Friday. 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 business has a 50-day moving average price of $53.22 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $58.45. Las Vegas Sands Corp. has a 12-month low of $40.03 and a 12-month high of $70.45. The firm has a market cap of $33.82 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.90, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.16 and a beta of 0.85.

Las Vegas Sands (NYSE:LVS) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 22nd. The casino operator reported $0.91 earnings per share (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 firm had revenue of $3.59 billion during 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 company’s revenue was up 25.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts anticipate that Las Vegas Sands Corp. will post 3.38 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Las Vegas Sands Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 13th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, May 5th were paid a dividend of $0.30 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, May 5th. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.4%. Las Vegas Sands’s payout ratio is 44.44%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on LVS shares. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on Las Vegas Sands from $72.00 to $74.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on Las Vegas Sands from $68.00 to $65.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 16th. HSBC lifted their price objective on Las Vegas Sands from $73.00 to $78.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 23rd. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price objective on Las Vegas Sands from $80.00 to $73.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 29th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price objective on Las Vegas Sands from $61.00 to $63.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 23rd. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $68.28.

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.