Las Vegas Sands (NYSE:LVS) Receives “Equal Weight” Rating from Morgan Stanley

Las Vegas Sands (NYSE:LVS)‘s stock had its “equal weight” rating reissued by research analysts at Morgan Stanley in a research note issued to investors on Tuesday, Marketbeat Ratings reports. They currently have a $51.00 target price on the casino operator’s stock, down from their previous target price of $54.00. Morgan Stanley’s target price would suggest a potential upside of 8.83% from the company’s current price.

LVS has been the subject of a number of other research reports. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of Las Vegas Sands from $53.00 to $60.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on Las Vegas Sands from $60.00 to $62.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, December 13th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target on Las Vegas Sands from $55.00 to $64.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 24th. UBS Group boosted their price objective on Las Vegas Sands from $49.00 to $50.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. Finally, Susquehanna increased their target price on Las Vegas Sands from $51.00 to $59.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $59.92.

Las Vegas Sands Stock Down 0.7 %

NYSE:LVS opened at $46.86 on Tuesday. Las Vegas Sands has a one year low of $36.62 and a one year high of $56.60. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.09, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a current ratio of 0.90. The company has a market capitalization of $33.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.20, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 1.09. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $51.31 and a 200 day simple moving average of $46.59.

Las Vegas Sands (NYSE:LVS) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 23rd. The casino operator reported $0.44 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates 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 business had revenue of $2.68 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.79 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.55 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 4.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts predict that Las Vegas Sands will post 2.33 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Las Vegas Sands

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

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Las Vegas Sands

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Empowered Funds LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Las Vegas Sands by 3.6% in the third quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 6,050 shares of the casino operator’s stock valued at $305,000 after purchasing an additional 213 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Trust N.A. grew its holdings in shares of Las Vegas Sands by 4.7% during the third quarter. Raymond James Trust N.A. now owns 5,062 shares of the casino operator’s stock valued at $255,000 after buying an additional 229 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its stake in Las Vegas Sands by 40.1% in the 3rd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 849 shares of the casino operator’s stock worth $43,000 after acquiring an additional 243 shares in the last quarter. Signaturefd LLC boosted its position in Las Vegas Sands by 7.8% during the 3rd quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 3,510 shares of the casino operator’s stock worth $177,000 after acquiring an additional 253 shares during the period. Finally, Waldron Private Wealth LLC increased its holdings in shares of Las Vegas Sands by 2.2% in the 3rd quarter. Waldron Private Wealth LLC now owns 12,466 shares of the casino operator’s stock valued at $628,000 after purchasing an additional 268 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 39.16% of the company’s stock.

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.