State of Wyoming Acquires New Shares in Las Vegas Sands Corp. $LVS

State of Wyoming acquired a new stake in Las Vegas Sands Corp. (NYSE:LVS) during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund acquired 12,828 shares of the casino operator’s stock, valued at approximately $835,000.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Grove Bank & Trust acquired a new position in Las Vegas Sands in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in Las Vegas Sands during the fourth quarter worth $26,000. Westside Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in Las Vegas Sands by 48.0% during the third quarter. Westside Investment Management Inc. now owns 512 shares of the casino operator’s stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 166 shares in the last quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC lifted its stake 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 worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 533 shares in the last quarter. Finally, IFP Advisors Inc lifted its stake in Las Vegas Sands by 182.4% during the third quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 672 shares of the casino operator’s stock worth $36,000 after purchasing an additional 434 shares in the last quarter. 39.16% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at Las Vegas Sands

In other news, CEO Patrick Dumont sold 60,165 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the chief executive officer owned 511,942 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $28,028,824.50. This represents a 10.52% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.55% of the company’s stock.

Las Vegas Sands Stock Down 0.2%

Las Vegas Sands stock opened at $50.77 on Friday. Las Vegas Sands Corp. has a twelve month low of $40.03 and a twelve month high of $70.45. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $52.94 and its 200-day simple moving average is $57.92. The company has a current ratio of 0.92, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.64. The firm has a market capitalization of $33.64 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.80, a P/E/G ratio of 1.15 and a beta of 0.81.

Las Vegas Sands (NYSE:LVS) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 22nd. The casino operator reported $0.91 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 business had revenue of $3.59 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.32 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.59 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 25.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts expect 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 given a dividend of $0.30 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, May 5th. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.4%. Las Vegas Sands’s dividend payout ratio is currently 44.44%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

LVS has been the topic of a number of research reports. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on Las Vegas Sands from $67.00 to $69.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 23rd. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price target 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. Wall Street Zen cut Las Vegas Sands from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, May 23rd. HSBC upped their price target on Las Vegas Sands from $73.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 23rd. Finally, Citigroup upped their price target on Las Vegas Sands from $76.75 to $78.50 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, April 13th. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Las Vegas Sands currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $67.91.

Las Vegas Sands Company 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.