Las Vegas Sands (NYSE:LVS) Shares Gap Down on Analyst Downgrade

Las Vegas Sands Corp. (NYSE:LVS)’s share price gapped down prior to trading on Thursday after Mizuho lowered their price target on the stock from $70.00 to $65.00. The stock had previously closed at $50.23, but opened at $48.09. Mizuho currently has a buy rating on the stock. Las Vegas Sands shares last traded at $46.05, with a volume of 3,403,061 shares traded.

Several other research firms also recently commented on LVS. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on shares of Las Vegas Sands from $59.00 to $55.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday. StockNews.com raised Las Vegas Sands from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on shares of Las Vegas Sands from $62.00 to $60.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of Las Vegas Sands from $61.00 to $62.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 9th. Finally, Barclays upped their price target on shares of Las Vegas Sands from $57.00 to $60.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Las Vegas Sands currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $66.83.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Robert G. Goldstein sold 100,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $52.06, for a total transaction of $5,206,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 172,801 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,996,020.06. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.91% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Las Vegas Sands

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. MML Investors Services LLC boosted its stake in Las Vegas Sands by 1.9% in the first quarter. MML Investors Services LLC now owns 9,767 shares of the casino operator’s stock worth $561,000 after purchasing an additional 185 shares in the last quarter. Horizon Investments LLC raised its holdings in Las Vegas Sands by 4.3% during the 2nd quarter. Horizon Investments LLC now owns 4,964 shares of the casino operator’s stock worth $287,000 after purchasing an additional 204 shares during the last quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Las Vegas Sands by 0.7% in the fourth quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. now owns 32,842 shares of the casino operator’s stock valued at $1,579,000 after buying an additional 216 shares during the period. Industrial Alliance Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in Las Vegas Sands by 16.4% during the 4th quarter. Industrial Alliance Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,560 shares of the casino operator’s stock worth $75,000 after acquiring an additional 220 shares during the period. Finally, Waldron Private Wealth LLC boosted its position in shares of Las Vegas Sands by 1.9% in the 4th quarter. Waldron Private Wealth LLC now owns 12,361 shares of the casino operator’s stock worth $608,000 after purchasing an additional 232 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 39.16% of the company’s stock.

Las Vegas Sands Stock Down 8.8 %

The firm has a market cap of $34.40 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.74, a P/E/G ratio of 0.81 and a beta of 1.16. The business has a fifty day moving average of $52.37 and a 200 day moving average of $49.62. The company has a quick ratio of 1.30, a current ratio of 1.31 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.96.

Las Vegas Sands (NYSE:LVS) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 17th. The casino operator reported $0.75 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.62 by $0.13. Las Vegas Sands had a net margin of 11.77% and a return on equity of 34.40%. The firm had revenue of $2.86 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.94 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.28 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 34.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts predict that Las Vegas Sands Corp. will post 2.73 EPS for the current year.

Las Vegas Sands Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, February 14th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 6th were issued a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.75%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 5th. Las Vegas Sands’s payout ratio is 50.00%.

About Las Vegas Sands

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.