Insider Selling: Las Vegas Sands (NYSE:LVS) CEO Sells 15,489 Shares of Stock

Las Vegas Sands Corp. (NYSE:LVS) CEO Robert Goldstein sold 15,489 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $66.24, for a total value of $1,025,991.36. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link.

Las Vegas Sands Stock Performance

LVS traded up $0.40 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $67.39. 4,597,258 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 5,601,676. The company has a quick ratio of 0.88, a current ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 7.42. Las Vegas Sands Corp. has a 1-year low of $30.18 and a 1-year high of $70.45. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $60.92 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $53.89. The firm has a market capitalization of $45.56 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.49, a PEG ratio of 1.77 and a beta of 0.97.

Las Vegas Sands (NYSE:LVS) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 22nd. The casino operator reported $0.78 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.62 by $0.16. The business had revenue of $3.33 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.04 billion. Las Vegas Sands had a return on equity of 73.14% and a net margin of 12.69%.The company’s revenue was up 24.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.44 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Las Vegas Sands Corp. will post 2.6 earnings per share for the current year.

Las Vegas Sands Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 12th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, November 4th were issued a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, November 4th. Las Vegas Sands’s dividend payout ratio is presently 45.25%.

Institutional Trading of Las Vegas Sands

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in Las Vegas Sands by 4.4% in the second quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 43,072,014 shares of the casino operator’s stock worth $1,874,063,000 after acquiring an additional 1,822,806 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its holdings in shares of Las Vegas Sands by 3.9% in the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 15,722,816 shares of the casino operator’s stock valued at $607,373,000 after purchasing an additional 592,321 shares in the last quarter. ARGA Investment Management LP increased its holdings in shares of Las Vegas Sands by 36.8% in the 2nd quarter. ARGA Investment Management LP now owns 10,040,975 shares of the casino operator’s stock valued at $436,883,000 after purchasing an additional 2,698,398 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. boosted its holdings in Las Vegas Sands by 4.9% during the second quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 9,902,619 shares of the casino operator’s stock worth $430,863,000 after buying an additional 459,821 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Las Vegas Sands by 0.4% during the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 8,823,966 shares of the casino operator’s stock worth $382,294,000 after buying an additional 31,153 shares in the last quarter. 39.16% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Las Vegas Sands in a report on Monday. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price objective on Las Vegas Sands from $60.00 to $68.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 23rd. Susquehanna lifted their target price on Las Vegas Sands from $62.00 to $63.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company initiated coverage on Las Vegas Sands in a research note on Tuesday, November 18th. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $66.00 price target for the company. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group raised Las Vegas Sands from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $64.00 to $80.00 in a report on Monday. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have issued a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Las Vegas Sands has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $67.52.

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.