Las Vegas Sands Corp. $LVS Shares Sold by New York State Teachers Retirement System

New York State Teachers Retirement System decreased its holdings in Las Vegas Sands Corp. (NYSE:LVS) by 5.6% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 263,829 shares of the casino operator’s stock after selling 15,592 shares during the quarter. New York State Teachers Retirement System’s holdings in Las Vegas Sands were worth $17,173,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC lifted its position in shares of Las Vegas Sands by 43.8% during the 3rd quarter. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC now owns 5,454,013 shares of the casino operator’s stock worth $293,371,000 after purchasing an additional 1,660,823 shares during the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership lifted its position in shares of Las Vegas Sands by 410.2% during the 3rd quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 5,167,553 shares of the casino operator’s stock worth $277,963,000 after purchasing an additional 4,154,753 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its position in shares of Las Vegas Sands by 5.3% during the 3rd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,723,494 shares of the casino operator’s stock worth $200,335,000 after purchasing an additional 187,389 shares during the last quarter. M&T Bank Corp lifted its position in shares of Las Vegas Sands by 33,102.6% during the 4th quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 3,060,288 shares of the casino operator’s stock worth $197,463,000 after purchasing an additional 3,051,071 shares during the last quarter. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Las Vegas Sands by 64.5% during the 3rd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 2,819,128 shares of the casino operator’s stock worth $151,641,000 after purchasing an additional 1,105,630 shares during the last quarter. 39.16% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Las Vegas Sands Price Performance

Shares of LVS opened at $53.85 on Friday. Las Vegas Sands Corp. has a 1-year low of $37.24 and a 1-year high of $70.45. The stock has a market cap of $35.68 billion, a PE ratio of 19.94, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.23 and a beta of 0.85. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.64, a current ratio of 0.92 and a quick ratio of 1.13. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $54.66 and a 200 day moving average price of $59.08.

Las Vegas Sands (NYSE:LVS) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, April 22nd. The casino operator reported $0.91 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.76 by $0.15. Las Vegas Sands had a net margin of 13.41% and a return on equity of 118.27%. The business had revenue of $3.59 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.32 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.59 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 25.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Las Vegas Sands Corp. will post 3.35 EPS for the current year.

Las Vegas Sands Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 13th. Investors of record on Tuesday, May 5th will be issued a dividend of $0.30 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, May 5th. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.2%. Las Vegas Sands’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 44.44%.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Patrick Dumont sold 60,165 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the chief executive officer owned 511,942 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $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 SEC, which is available through this link. 0.55% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on LVS shares. Seaport Research Partners decreased their price objective on shares of Las Vegas Sands from $72.00 to $69.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 21st. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Las Vegas Sands from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, February 14th. Macquarie Infrastructure reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $70.00 price target on shares of Las Vegas Sands in a research report on Thursday, January 29th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on shares of Las Vegas Sands from $67.00 to $69.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 23rd. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their price target on shares of Las Vegas Sands from $80.00 to $73.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 29th. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $68.28.

Las Vegas Sands Profile

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.