Las Vegas Sands (NYSE:LVS) Price Target Raised to $67.00 at Morgan Stanley

Las Vegas Sands (NYSE:LVS) had its price objective hoisted by analysts at Morgan Stanley from $66.00 to $67.00 in a report issued on Wednesday, Marketbeat Ratings reports. The brokerage currently has an “equal weight” rating on the casino operator’s stock. Morgan Stanley’s target price would suggest a potential upside of 19.41% from the stock’s current price.

Several other brokerages have also recently commented on LVS. Barclays set a $64.00 price target on Las Vegas Sands in a research report on Thursday, January 29th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on Las Vegas Sands from $70.00 to $71.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 23rd. Seaport Research Partners cut their price objective on shares of Las Vegas Sands from $75.00 to $72.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 14th. Mizuho increased their price objective on shares of Las Vegas Sands from $63.00 to $65.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, January 29th. Finally, HSBC increased their price objective on shares of Las Vegas Sands from $67.50 to $73.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 29th. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Las Vegas Sands presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $67.92.

Las Vegas Sands Price Performance

Shares of NYSE LVS traded up $2.09 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $56.11. The company had a trading volume of 130,761 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,184,175. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $55.30 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $58.82. Las Vegas Sands has a fifty-two week low of $30.52 and a fifty-two week high of $70.45. The firm has a market capitalization of $37.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.87, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 0.89. The company has a quick ratio of 1.13, a current ratio of 1.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 7.58.

Las Vegas Sands (NYSE:LVS) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, January 28th. The casino operator reported $0.85 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.77 by $0.08. Las Vegas Sands had a net margin of 12.50% and a return on equity of 91.40%. The business had revenue of $3.65 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.33 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.54 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 26.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts expect that Las Vegas Sands will post 2.6 earnings per share for the current year.

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 stock was sold at an average price of $54.75, for a total transaction of $3,294,033.75. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 511,942 shares in the company, valued at $28,028,824.50. The trade was a 10.52% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 1.20% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of LVS. Allianz Asset Management GmbH lifted its holdings in Las Vegas Sands by 358.4% in the third quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH now owns 227,278 shares of the casino operator’s stock valued at $12,225,000 after acquiring an additional 177,695 shares during the last quarter. Maple Rock Capital Partners Inc. boosted its stake in Las Vegas Sands by 124.4% during the second quarter. Maple Rock Capital Partners Inc. now owns 1,003,880 shares of the casino operator’s stock worth $43,679,000 after buying an additional 556,440 shares during the period. Donoghue Forlines LLC purchased a new position in Las Vegas Sands during the third quarter worth about $2,143,000. Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its stake in Las Vegas Sands by 99.5% during the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 934,927 shares of the casino operator’s stock worth $60,901,000 after buying an additional 466,330 shares during the period. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC boosted its stake in Las Vegas Sands by 2,655.3% during the fourth quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 878,022 shares of the casino operator’s stock worth $57,150,000 after buying an additional 846,155 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other 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.