Kentucky Retirement Systems Sells 2,885 Shares of Las Vegas Sands Corp. (NYSE:LVS)

Kentucky Retirement Systems lessened its stake in shares of Las Vegas Sands Corp. (NYSE:LVS) by 10.5% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 24,625 shares of the casino operator’s stock after selling 2,885 shares during the period. Kentucky Retirement Systems’ holdings in Las Vegas Sands were worth $1,240,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Las Vegas Sands by 0.6% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 37,107,775 shares of the casino operator’s stock valued at $1,918,472,000 after acquiring an additional 209,589 shares in the last quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co raised its holdings in Las Vegas Sands by 7.8% in the first quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co now owns 211,320 shares of the casino operator’s stock worth $10,929,000 after buying an additional 15,216 shares during the last quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC raised its holdings in Las Vegas Sands by 2.0% in the first quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 641,682 shares of the casino operator’s stock worth $33,175,000 after buying an additional 12,500 shares during the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its stake in shares of Las Vegas Sands by 7,647.7% in the second quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 443,325 shares of the casino operator’s stock worth $19,617,000 after buying an additional 437,603 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sanctuary Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Las Vegas Sands during the second quarter valued at approximately $619,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 39.16% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on LVS shares. Barclays upped their price objective on Las Vegas Sands from $52.00 to $58.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Susquehanna upped their price target on Las Vegas Sands from $51.00 to $59.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on Las Vegas Sands from $53.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 1st. Argus lowered shares of Las Vegas Sands from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 15th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered their price objective on shares of Las Vegas Sands from $61.00 to $55.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, July 25th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Las Vegas Sands presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $58.00.

Insider Activity at Las Vegas Sands

In other Las Vegas Sands news, CEO Robert G. Goldstein sold 119,221 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $53.73, for a total transaction of $6,405,744.33. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 84,511 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,540,776.03. This trade represents a 58.52 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 0.91% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Las Vegas Sands Price Performance

Shares of Las Vegas Sands stock opened at $49.14 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.09, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a current ratio of 0.90. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $48.91 and its 200 day moving average is $44.75. The stock has a market cap of $35.63 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.33, a P/E/G ratio of 1.26 and a beta of 1.11. Las Vegas Sands Corp. has a one year low of $36.62 and a one year high of $55.65.

Las Vegas Sands (NYSE:LVS) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 23rd. The casino operator reported $0.44 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.53 by ($0.09). Las Vegas Sands had a net margin of 13.29% and a return on equity of 44.26%. The company had revenue of $2.68 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.79 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.55 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was down 4.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Las Vegas Sands Corp. will post 2.33 earnings per share for the current year.

Las Vegas Sands Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 13th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, November 5th were given a dividend of $0.20 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, November 5th. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.63%. Las Vegas Sands’s payout ratio is 39.60%.

Las Vegas Sands Company Profile

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.