Retirement Systems of Alabama Sells 3,045 Shares of Las Vegas Sands Corp. (NYSE:LVS)

Retirement Systems of Alabama decreased its stake in shares of Las Vegas Sands Corp. (NYSE:LVS) by 3.8% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 77,485 shares of the casino operator’s stock after selling 3,045 shares during the quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama’s holdings in Las Vegas Sands were worth $3,901,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Meeder Asset Management Inc. grew its holdings in Las Vegas Sands by 97.2% in the third quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. now owns 89,743 shares of the casino operator’s stock worth $4,518,000 after purchasing an additional 44,223 shares during the period. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company boosted its position in shares of Las Vegas Sands by 1.4% during the 3rd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 5,627,422 shares of the casino operator’s stock worth $283,284,000 after purchasing an additional 77,807 shares in the last quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Las Vegas Sands in the 2nd quarter valued at about $619,000. Clearbridge Investments LLC grew its stake in shares of Las Vegas Sands by 29.9% in the 2nd quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 833,487 shares of the casino operator’s stock valued at $36,882,000 after buying an additional 191,805 shares during the period. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its position in Las Vegas Sands by 33.3% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 548,072 shares of the casino operator’s stock valued at $27,590,000 after buying an additional 136,859 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 39.16% of the company’s stock.

Las Vegas Sands Trading Up 0.5 %

Shares of LVS stock opened at $51.28 on Friday. Las Vegas Sands Corp. has a 52-week low of $36.62 and a 52-week high of $56.60. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $51.84 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $45.83. 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 $37.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.39, a PEG ratio of 1.44 and a beta of 1.10.

Las Vegas Sands (NYSE:LVS) last released 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). The business had revenue of $2.68 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.79 billion. Las Vegas Sands had a net margin of 13.29% and a return on equity of 44.26%. The business’s revenue was down 4.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.55 earnings per share. Research analysts anticipate that Las Vegas Sands Corp. will post 2.33 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Las Vegas Sands Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 13th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, November 5th were given a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.56%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, November 5th. Las Vegas Sands’s dividend payout ratio is presently 39.60%.

Insider Transactions at Las Vegas Sands

In other news, CEO Robert G. Goldstein sold 24,324 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 60,187 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,129,724. This represents a 28.78 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Robert G. Goldstein sold 60,187 shares of Las Vegas Sands stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 29th. The stock was 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. Insiders have sold 203,732 shares of company stock worth $10,861,707 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 1.20% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have commented on the company. Barclays raised their price objective on Las Vegas Sands from $58.00 to $61.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, December 13th. UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of Las Vegas Sands from $49.00 to $50.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of Las Vegas Sands from $60.00 to $62.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, December 13th. Wells Fargo & Company raised 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 note on Tuesday, October 1st. Finally, Susquehanna boosted their target price on shares of 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 equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $58.42.

Las Vegas Sands 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.