Axa S.A. Sells 228,244 Shares of Las Vegas Sands Corp. (NYSE:LVS)

Axa S.A. decreased its holdings in shares of Las Vegas Sands Corp. (NYSE:LVS) by 78.7% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 61,661 shares of the casino operator’s stock after selling 228,244 shares during the period. Axa S.A.’s holdings in Las Vegas Sands were worth $3,167,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. grew its position in shares of Las Vegas Sands by 32.2% during the 4th quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 32,948 shares of the casino operator’s stock worth $1,707,000 after buying an additional 8,032 shares during the period. ARGA Investment Management LP grew its holdings in Las Vegas Sands by 32.0% in the fourth quarter. ARGA Investment Management LP now owns 6,501,382 shares of the casino operator’s stock worth $333,911,000 after purchasing an additional 1,577,042 shares during the period. Fisher Asset Management LLC increased its stake in Las Vegas Sands by 1.2% in the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 13,810,351 shares of the casino operator’s stock valued at $709,300,000 after purchasing an additional 160,711 shares in the last quarter. Polymer Capital Management HK LTD acquired a new position in shares of Las Vegas Sands during the fourth quarter valued at about $2,311,000. Finally, World Equity Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Las Vegas Sands by 82.9% during the 4th quarter. World Equity Group Inc. now owns 25,602 shares of the casino operator’s stock worth $1,315,000 after purchasing an additional 11,602 shares in the last quarter. 39.16% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently weighed in on LVS. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft dropped their price target on Las Vegas Sands from $66.00 to $62.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. Hsbc Global Res upgraded shares of Las Vegas Sands to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. Stifel Nicolaus set a $57.00 price objective on shares of Las Vegas Sands and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on shares of Las Vegas Sands from $62.00 to $61.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. Finally, Citigroup increased their price objective on Las Vegas Sands from $64.50 to $67.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $56.75.

Las Vegas Sands Stock Performance

Shares of LVS opened at $39.57 on Thursday. Las Vegas Sands Corp. has a 52-week low of $30.18 and a 52-week high of $56.61. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $38.19 and its 200 day simple moving average is $45.12. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.35, a quick ratio of 0.73 and a current ratio of 0.74. The stock has a market capitalization of $27.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.09, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 0.99.

Las Vegas Sands (NYSE:LVS) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 23rd. The casino operator reported $0.59 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.60 by ($0.01). The firm had revenue of $2.86 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.95 billion. Las Vegas Sands had a net margin of 12.80% and a return on equity of 45.82%. Las Vegas Sands’s revenue was down 3.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.78 earnings per share. Research analysts forecast that Las Vegas Sands Corp. will post 2.6 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Las Vegas Sands declared that its board has approved a stock buyback program on Wednesday, April 23rd that allows the company to buyback $2.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the casino operator to purchase up to 8.2% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are typically an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Las Vegas Sands Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 14th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, May 6th will be issued a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, May 6th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.53%. Las Vegas Sands’s payout ratio is currently 55.56%.

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.