Assenagon Asset Management S.A. Reduces Stock Position in Las Vegas Sands Corp. $LVS

Assenagon Asset Management S.A. reduced its position in Las Vegas Sands Corp. (NYSE:LVS) by 50.4% in the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 566,645 shares of the casino operator’s stock after selling 574,781 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A.’s holdings in Las Vegas Sands were worth $30,531,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Mackenzie Financial Corp boosted its holdings in Las Vegas Sands by 0.3% in the third quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 53,945 shares of the casino operator’s stock valued at $2,902,000 after acquiring an additional 156 shares during the last quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC increased its stake in Las Vegas Sands by 7.8% during the third quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 2,449 shares of the casino operator’s stock worth $132,000 after acquiring an additional 177 shares during the last quarter. &PARTNERS raised its holdings in shares of Las Vegas Sands by 3.2% in the 4th quarter. &PARTNERS now owns 6,930 shares of the casino operator’s stock worth $453,000 after purchasing an additional 214 shares during the period. United Capital Financial Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Las Vegas Sands by 5.5% in the 3rd quarter. United Capital Financial Advisors LLC now owns 4,945 shares of the casino operator’s stock worth $266,000 after purchasing an additional 258 shares during the period. Finally, Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC lifted its stake in shares of Las Vegas Sands by 4.2% in the 4th quarter. Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC now owns 6,859 shares of the casino operator’s stock valued at $446,000 after purchasing an additional 279 shares in the last quarter. 39.16% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Las Vegas Sands Price Performance

NYSE LVS opened at $47.15 on Friday. Las Vegas Sands Corp. has a 12 month low of $43.20 and a 12 month high of $70.45. The firm has a market capitalization of $31.24 billion, a PE ratio of 17.46, a P/E/G ratio of 1.05 and a beta of 0.81. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $51.38 and its 200 day simple moving average is $56.04. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.64, a current ratio of 0.92 and a quick ratio of 0.91.

Las Vegas Sands (NYSE:LVS) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 22nd. The casino operator reported $0.91 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.76 by $0.15. Las Vegas Sands had a return on equity of 118.27% and a net margin of 13.41%.The firm had revenue of $3.58 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.32 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.59 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 25.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Las Vegas Sands Corp. will post 3.38 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Las Vegas Sands Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 13th. Investors of record on Tuesday, May 5th were paid a dividend of $0.30 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, May 5th. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.5%. Las Vegas Sands’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 44.44%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have issued reports on LVS. Citigroup boosted their price objective on shares of Las Vegas Sands from $76.75 to $78.50 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, April 13th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on shares of Las Vegas Sands from $68.00 to $65.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 16th. Seaport Research Partners decreased their price target on shares of Las Vegas Sands from $72.00 to $69.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on Las Vegas Sands from $71.00 to $68.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 23rd. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered Las Vegas Sands from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, May 23rd. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Las Vegas Sands has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $67.91.

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.