Las Vegas Sands Corp. $LVS Shares Sold by Deprince Race & Zollo Inc.

Deprince Race & Zollo Inc. trimmed its position in Las Vegas Sands Corp. (NYSE:LVS) by 41.5% in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 469,292 shares of the casino operator’s stock after selling 333,451 shares during the quarter. Deprince Race & Zollo Inc.’s holdings in Las Vegas Sands were worth $25,243,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in Las Vegas Sands by 4.4% during the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 43,072,014 shares of the casino operator’s stock worth $1,874,063,000 after buying an additional 1,822,806 shares during the last quarter. ARGA Investment Management LP increased its stake in shares of Las Vegas Sands by 36.8% in the second quarter. ARGA Investment Management LP now owns 10,040,975 shares of the casino operator’s stock worth $436,883,000 after acquiring an additional 2,698,398 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of Las Vegas Sands by 4.9% during the second quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 9,902,619 shares of the casino operator’s stock worth $430,863,000 after purchasing an additional 459,821 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Las Vegas Sands by 0.4% during the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 8,823,966 shares of the casino operator’s stock valued at $382,294,000 after purchasing an additional 31,153 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Las Vegas Sands in the second quarter valued at $134,179,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 39.16% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Las Vegas Sands

In other Las Vegas Sands news, major shareholder Miriam Adelson sold 77,991 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $67.56, for a total value of $5,269,071.96. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 23,333,441 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,576,407,273.96. This trade represents a 0.33% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Robert G. Goldstein sold 1,198,650 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, December 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $66.68, for a total value of $79,925,982.00. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last quarter, insiders sold 5,182,053 shares of company stock worth $333,348,399. Insiders own 1.20% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

LVS has been the subject of several analyst reports. The Goldman Sachs Group raised Las Vegas Sands from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $64.00 to $80.00 in a report on Monday, December 15th. Macquarie upped their price objective on Las Vegas Sands from $64.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 18th. Citigroup raised their target price on Las Vegas Sands from $75.50 to $76.75 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 11th. Mizuho increased their target price on Las Vegas Sands from $56.00 to $63.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 23rd. Finally, Barclays boosted their price target on shares of Las Vegas Sands from $59.00 to $62.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 23rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Buy rating and six have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $68.52.

Las Vegas Sands Stock Down 0.2%

NYSE LVS opened at $66.20 on Friday. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $63.96 and a 200 day moving average price of $55.40. Las Vegas Sands Corp. has a one year low of $30.18 and a one year high of $70.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 7.42, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a current ratio of 0.89. The company has a market cap of $44.76 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.95, a P/E/G ratio of 1.80 and a beta of 0.97.

Las Vegas Sands (NYSE:LVS) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, October 22nd. The casino operator reported $0.78 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.62 by $0.16. The company had revenue of $3.33 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.04 billion. Las Vegas Sands had a net margin of 12.69% and a return on equity of 73.14%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 24.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.44 EPS. Research analysts anticipate that Las Vegas Sands Corp. will post 2.6 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Las Vegas Sands Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 12th. Investors of record on Tuesday, November 4th were paid a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, November 4th. Las Vegas Sands’s dividend payout ratio is currently 45.25%.

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.