Las Vegas Sands Corp. $LVS Shares Sold by North Dakota State Investment Board

North Dakota State Investment Board cut its position in Las Vegas Sands Corp. (NYSE:LVS) by 57.1% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 9,115 shares of the casino operator’s stock after selling 12,143 shares during the period. North Dakota State Investment Board’s holdings in Las Vegas Sands were worth $421,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in LVS. Mackenzie Financial Corp grew its position in shares of Las Vegas Sands by 0.3% in the 3rd quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 53,945 shares of the casino operator’s stock valued at $2,902,000 after buying an additional 156 shares during the last quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC raised its position in 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 position in Las Vegas Sands by 3.2% in the fourth quarter. &PARTNERS now owns 6,930 shares of the casino operator’s stock valued at $453,000 after purchasing an additional 214 shares during the period. United Capital Financial Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Las Vegas Sands by 5.5% in the 3rd quarter. United Capital Financial Advisors LLC now owns 4,945 shares of the casino operator’s stock valued at $266,000 after buying an additional 258 shares during the period. Finally, Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC boosted its position in shares of Las Vegas Sands by 4.2% during the 4th quarter. Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC now owns 6,859 shares of the casino operator’s stock worth $446,000 after purchasing an additional 279 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 39.16% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on the company. HSBC boosted 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. Wall Street Zen cut Las Vegas Sands from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Sunday, July 12th. Citigroup decreased their target price on Las Vegas Sands from $78.50 to $73.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, July 10th. Zacks Research lowered Las Vegas Sands from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Thursday, July 23rd. Finally, UBS Group set a $52.00 target price on Las Vegas Sands in a report on Thursday, July 2nd. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $61.88.

Las Vegas Sands Trading Up 1.0%

NYSE:LVS opened at $46.21 on Friday. The business’s 50-day moving average is $47.17 and its two-hundred day moving average is $51.80. The firm has a market capitalization of $29.93 billion, a PE ratio of 17.98, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.14 and a beta of 0.85. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 15.27, a current ratio of 1.00 and a quick ratio of 0.99. Las Vegas Sands Corp. has a 12 month low of $44.21 and a 12 month high of $70.45.

Las Vegas Sands (NYSE:LVS) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 22nd. The casino operator reported $0.59 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.76 by ($0.17). The company had revenue of $3.15 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.31 billion. Las Vegas Sands had a return on equity of 133.90% and a net margin of 12.59%.The firm’s revenue was down .7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.66 EPS. Research analysts predict that Las Vegas Sands Corp. will post 3.09 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Las Vegas Sands Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, August 12th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, August 4th were paid a dividend of $0.30 per share. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.6%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, August 4th. Las Vegas Sands’s dividend payout ratio is 46.69%.

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.