Brokerages Set Las Vegas Sands Corp. (NYSE:LVS) PT at $58.42

Las Vegas Sands Corp. (NYSE:LVS) has received a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the thirteen analysts that are presently covering the company, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and ten have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month target price among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $58.42.

A number of research firms recently commented on LVS. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on Las Vegas Sands from $53.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of Las Vegas Sands from $60.00 to $62.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Mizuho increased their price objective on shares of Las Vegas Sands from $52.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Las Vegas Sands from $58.00 to $61.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, December 13th. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their price target on Las Vegas Sands from $50.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd.

Las Vegas Sands Price Performance

LVS stock opened at $49.90 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $36.18 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.70, a PEG ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 1.10. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $51.80 and a 200-day moving average price of $46.34. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.09, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a current ratio of 0.90. Las Vegas Sands has a 52-week low of $36.62 and a 52-week high of $56.60.

Las Vegas Sands (NYSE:LVS) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The casino operator reported $0.44 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.53 by ($0.09). Las Vegas Sands had a return on equity of 44.26% and a net margin of 13.29%. The company had revenue of $2.68 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.79 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.55 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 4.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts expect that Las Vegas Sands will post 2.33 EPS for the current year.

Las Vegas Sands Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 13th. Investors of record on Tuesday, November 5th were paid a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.60%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, November 5th. Las Vegas Sands’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 39.60%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Las Vegas Sands

In other Las Vegas Sands news, CEO Robert G. Goldstein sold 24,324 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $52.00, for a total transaction of $1,264,848.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 60,187 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,129,724. This represents a 28.78 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Robert G. Goldstein sold 60,187 shares of Las Vegas Sands stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $53.02, for a total transaction of $3,191,114.74. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 203,732 shares of company stock valued at $10,861,707. Company insiders own 0.91% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Las Vegas Sands

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Janus Henderson Group PLC raised its holdings in shares of Las Vegas Sands by 159.6% in the third quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 9,130,486 shares of the casino operator’s stock valued at $459,630,000 after purchasing an additional 5,612,975 shares during the last quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company lifted its position in shares of Las Vegas Sands by 987.0% during the 2nd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 5,549,615 shares of the casino operator’s stock worth $245,570,000 after buying an additional 5,039,072 shares in the last quarter. Charles Lim Capital Ltd boosted its stake in shares of Las Vegas Sands by 178.3% in the 2nd quarter. Charles Lim Capital Ltd now owns 1,600,000 shares of the casino operator’s stock worth $70,800,000 after buying an additional 1,025,000 shares during the last quarter. ARGA Investment Management LP grew its holdings in shares of Las Vegas Sands by 24.8% in the third quarter. ARGA Investment Management LP now owns 4,924,340 shares of the casino operator’s stock valued at $247,891,000 after acquiring an additional 977,636 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Renaissance Technologies LLC increased its position in shares of Las Vegas Sands by 44.1% during the second quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 2,949,670 shares of the casino operator’s stock valued at $130,523,000 after acquiring an additional 903,400 shares during the last quarter. 39.16% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.