Las Vegas Sands (NYSE:LVS) Price Target Lowered to $50.00 at Morgan Stanley

Las Vegas Sands (NYSE:LVS) had its target price decreased by Morgan Stanley from $55.00 to $50.00 in a report published on Wednesday morning, Benzinga reports. Morgan Stanley currently has an overweight rating on the casino operator’s stock.

Several other research firms have also recently weighed in on LVS. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price objective on shares of Las Vegas Sands from $65.00 to $55.00 and set a buy rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, July 25th. Argus cut shares of Las Vegas Sands from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research report on Thursday, August 15th. Barclays decreased their target price on shares of Las Vegas Sands from $57.00 to $52.00 and set an overweight rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, July 25th. StockNews.com cut shares of Las Vegas Sands from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research report on Thursday, July 25th. Finally, UBS Group cut shares of Las Vegas Sands from a buy rating to a neutral rating and decreased their target price for the stock from $70.00 to $49.00 in a research report on Friday, August 23rd. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $55.25.

Las Vegas Sands Stock Performance

Las Vegas Sands stock opened at $39.70 on Wednesday. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $40.37 and its 200-day moving average price is $45.52. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.29, a quick ratio of 1.57 and a current ratio of 1.58. The stock has a market cap of $29.58 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.18, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.07 and a beta of 1.11. Las Vegas Sands has a fifty-two week low of $36.62 and a fifty-two week high of $55.65.

Las Vegas Sands (NYSE:LVS) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 24th. The casino operator reported $0.55 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.56 by ($0.01). The company had revenue of $2.76 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.82 billion. Las Vegas Sands had a net margin of 14.08% and a return on equity of 44.41%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 8.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.46 EPS. On average, equities research analysts expect that Las Vegas Sands will post 2.45 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Las Vegas Sands Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, August 14th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, August 6th were given a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.02%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, August 6th. Las Vegas Sands’s payout ratio is 38.65%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Las Vegas Sands

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of LVS. Bank & Trust Co purchased a new position in shares of Las Vegas Sands in the second quarter valued at about $29,000. Accent Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Las Vegas Sands during the 4th quarter valued at about $39,000. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of Las Vegas Sands by 93.2% during the 2nd quarter. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. now owns 906 shares of the casino operator’s stock valued at $40,000 after purchasing an additional 437 shares in the last quarter. Vestor Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of Las Vegas Sands during the 4th quarter valued at about $42,000. Finally, Fidelis Capital Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Las Vegas Sands during the 1st quarter valued at about $43,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 39.16% of the company’s stock.

About Las Vegas Sands

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.