Las Vegas Sands Corp. (NYSE:LVS) Shares Sold by PKO Investment Management Joint Stock Co

PKO Investment Management Joint Stock Co cut its stake in Las Vegas Sands Corp. (NYSE:LVS) by 3.4% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 28,000 shares of the casino operator’s stock after selling 1,000 shares during the quarter. PKO Investment Management Joint Stock Co’s holdings in Las Vegas Sands were worth $1,082,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of LVS. Capital Research Global Investors raised its holdings in shares of Las Vegas Sands by 26.5% during the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 58,824,289 shares of the casino operator’s stock valued at $3,021,205,000 after buying an additional 12,304,533 shares during the period. Janus Henderson Group PLC raised its stake in shares of Las Vegas Sands by 55.7% during the fourth quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 14,218,581 shares of the casino operator’s stock valued at $730,295,000 after purchasing an additional 5,088,095 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Las Vegas Sands during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $216,571,000. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC lifted its position in shares of Las Vegas Sands by 29.8% during the fourth quarter. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC now owns 9,382,267 shares of the casino operator’s stock worth $481,873,000 after purchasing an additional 2,152,829 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its stake in shares of Las Vegas Sands by 13.5% in the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 11,662,548 shares of the casino operator’s stock valued at $598,988,000 after purchasing an additional 1,389,963 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 39.16% of the company’s stock.

Las Vegas Sands Stock Up 6.1%

LVS stock opened at $42.77 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $30.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.71, a PEG ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 1.03. Las Vegas Sands Corp. has a 1-year low of $30.18 and a 1-year high of $56.61. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $38.45 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $43.13. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.35, a current ratio of 0.74 and a quick ratio of 0.73.

Las Vegas Sands (NYSE:LVS) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 23rd. The casino operator reported $0.59 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.60 by ($0.01). The business had revenue of $2.86 billion for 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 quarterly revenue was down 3.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.78 EPS. Research analysts predict that Las Vegas Sands Corp. will post 2.6 EPS for the current year.

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

Las Vegas Sands Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 14th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, May 6th were given a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.34%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, May 6th. Las Vegas Sands’s payout ratio is 55.56%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently issued reports on LVS. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on shares of Las Vegas Sands from $47.00 to $45.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 16th. Barclays dropped their target price on Las Vegas Sands from $58.00 to $53.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Stifel Nicolaus set a $57.00 price target on Las Vegas Sands and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, April 24th. Hsbc Global Res upgraded Las Vegas Sands to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. Finally, Mizuho set a $47.00 target price on Las Vegas Sands in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. Four research 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 company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $56.75.

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.