Louisiana State Employees Retirement System Invests $1.10 Million in Las Vegas Sands Corp. (NYSE:LVS)

Louisiana State Employees Retirement System bought a new position in shares of Las Vegas Sands Corp. (NYSE:LVS) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm bought 22,300 shares of the casino operator’s stock, valued at approximately $1,097,000.

Other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Headlands Technologies LLC bought a new position in shares of Las Vegas Sands during the third quarter worth approximately $27,000. Western Pacific Wealth Management LP bought a new position in shares of Las Vegas Sands during the third quarter worth approximately $29,000. Venturi Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Las Vegas Sands by 150.4% during the fourth quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 681 shares of the casino operator’s stock worth $34,000 after purchasing an additional 409 shares during the period. CNB Bank bought a new position in shares of Las Vegas Sands during the third quarter worth approximately $32,000. Finally, Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV increased its stake in Las Vegas Sands by 617.3% during the 4th quarter. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV now owns 911 shares of the casino operator’s stock worth $45,000 after acquiring an additional 784 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 39.16% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

LVS has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on Las Vegas Sands from $61.00 to $62.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 9th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered their price objective on Las Vegas Sands from $66.00 to $62.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 18th. StockNews.com upgraded Las Vegas Sands from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on Las Vegas Sands from $59.00 to $55.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 18th. Finally, Citigroup raised their price objective on Las Vegas Sands from $74.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 18th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $63.46.

Las Vegas Sands Trading Down 1.2 %

Shares of LVS stock opened at $46.01 on Wednesday. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $51.74 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $49.69. The company has a market cap of $34.57 billion, a PE ratio of 22.23, a P/E/G ratio of 0.84 and a beta of 1.17. Las Vegas Sands Corp. has a fifty-two week low of $43.77 and a fifty-two week high of $65.58. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.96, a quick ratio of 1.30 and a current ratio of 1.31.

Las Vegas Sands (NYSE:LVS) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 17th. The casino operator reported $0.75 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.62 by $0.13. Las Vegas Sands had a return on equity of 41.81% and a net margin of 13.99%. The company had revenue of $2.86 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.94 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.28 EPS. Las Vegas Sands’s revenue for the quarter was up 34.9% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts predict that Las Vegas Sands Corp. will post 2.65 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Las Vegas Sands Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, May 7th will be issued a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.74%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, May 6th. Las Vegas Sands’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 38.65%.

Insider Activity at Las Vegas Sands

In related news, CEO Robert G. Goldstein sold 100,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $52.06, for a total transaction of $5,206,000.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 172,801 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,996,020.06. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 1.20% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.