Zweig DiMenna Associates LLC Sells 20,000 Shares of Las Vegas Sands Corp. $LVS

Zweig DiMenna Associates LLC reduced its stake in Las Vegas Sands Corp. (NYSE:LVS) by 9.4% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 192,500 shares of the casino operator’s stock after selling 20,000 shares during the period. Zweig DiMenna Associates LLC’s holdings in Las Vegas Sands were worth $12,530,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in LVS. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership boosted its holdings in shares of Las Vegas Sands by 410.2% in the third quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 5,167,553 shares of the casino operator’s stock worth $277,963,000 after acquiring an additional 4,154,753 shares during the period. M&T Bank Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Las Vegas Sands by 33,102.6% in the fourth quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 3,060,288 shares of the casino operator’s stock worth $197,463,000 after acquiring an additional 3,051,071 shares during the period. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Las Vegas Sands by 43.8% in the third quarter. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC now owns 5,454,013 shares of the casino operator’s stock worth $293,371,000 after acquiring an additional 1,660,823 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Las Vegas Sands by 64.5% in the third quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 2,819,128 shares of the casino operator’s stock worth $151,641,000 after acquiring an additional 1,105,630 shares during the period. Finally, Schroder Investment Management Group boosted its holdings in shares of Las Vegas Sands by 4,504.2% in the third quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group now owns 1,028,808 shares of the casino operator’s stock worth $55,340,000 after acquiring an additional 1,006,463 shares during the period. 39.16% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Las Vegas Sands Price Performance

NYSE:LVS opened at $50.46 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $33.44 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.69, a P/E/G ratio of 1.16 and a beta of 0.85. Las Vegas Sands Corp. has a 52-week low of $40.03 and a 52-week high of $70.45. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $53.14 and a 200 day moving average of $58.39. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.64, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a current ratio of 0.92.

Las Vegas Sands (NYSE:LVS) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 22nd. The casino operator reported $0.91 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.76 by $0.15. The company had revenue of $3.59 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.32 billion. Las Vegas Sands had a return on equity of 118.27% and a net margin of 13.41%.The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 25.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.59 earnings per share. On average, research analysts expect that Las Vegas Sands Corp. will post 3.38 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Las Vegas Sands Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 13th. Investors of record on Tuesday, May 5th were paid a dividend of $0.30 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, May 5th. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.4%. Las Vegas Sands’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 44.44%.

Insider Transactions at Las Vegas Sands

In related news, CEO Patrick Dumont sold 60,165 shares of Las Vegas Sands stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $54.75, for a total transaction of $3,294,033.75. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 511,942 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $28,028,824.50. This trade represents a 10.52% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.55% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on LVS shares. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on Las Vegas Sands from $67.00 to $69.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, April 23rd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut their price target on Las Vegas Sands from $77.00 to $73.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 23rd. Weiss Ratings lowered Las Vegas Sands from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a report on Tuesday. Barclays raised their price target on Las Vegas Sands from $64.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, April 23rd. Finally, Argus cut their price target on Las Vegas Sands from $80.00 to $60.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 30th. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $68.28.

About Las Vegas Sands

Las Vegas Sands (NYSE: LVS) is a global developer and operator of integrated resorts, focused on large-scale properties that combine casino gaming with hotels, convention and exhibition facilities, retail, dining, and entertainment. The company’s operations center on developing and managing full-service resort complexes that serve both leisure and business travelers, with emphasis on convention and trade-show business in addition to gaming revenue streams.

The company’s portfolio has included prominent properties in North America and Asia, most notably The Venetian Resort in Las Vegas and Marina Bay Sands in Singapore, along with a significant presence in Macau through multiple integrated resorts.