Investors Research Corp Sells 275 Shares of Las Vegas Sands Corp. (NYSE:LVS)

Investors Research Corp reduced its stake in Las Vegas Sands Corp. (NYSE:LVS) by 1.8% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 14,687 shares of the casino operator’s stock after selling 275 shares during the quarter. Investors Research Corp’s holdings in Las Vegas Sands were worth $754,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Meeder Asset Management Inc. lifted its stake in Las Vegas Sands by 97.2% during 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 last quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. lifted its stake in Las Vegas Sands by 32.2% during the fourth quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 32,948 shares of the casino operator’s stock worth $1,707,000 after purchasing an additional 8,032 shares during the last quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company lifted its stake in Las Vegas Sands by 1.4% during the third 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 during the last quarter. ARGA Investment Management LP lifted its stake in Las Vegas Sands by 32.0% during the fourth quarter. ARGA Investment Management LP now owns 6,501,382 shares of the casino operator’s stock worth $333,911,000 after purchasing an additional 1,577,042 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its stake in Las Vegas Sands by 33.3% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 548,072 shares of the casino operator’s stock worth $27,590,000 after purchasing an additional 136,859 shares during the last quarter. 39.16% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have weighed in on LVS. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut their target price on Las Vegas Sands from $66.00 to $62.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on shares of Las Vegas Sands from $51.00 to $49.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, February 24th. Macquarie upped their price target on shares of Las Vegas Sands from $57.00 to $58.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Las Vegas Sands from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $60.00 to $69.00 in a report on Friday, January 3rd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on shares of Las Vegas Sands from $60.00 to $59.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $59.42.

Las Vegas Sands Price Performance

LVS stock opened at $44.99 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $32.21 billion, a PE ratio of 22.84, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 1.07. The company’s 50-day moving average is $45.34 and its 200-day moving average is $47.53. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.35, a current ratio of 0.74 and a quick ratio of 0.73. Las Vegas Sands Corp. has a 1 year low of $36.62 and a 1 year high of $56.61.

Las Vegas Sands (NYSE:LVS) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The casino operator reported $0.54 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.58 by ($0.04). Las Vegas Sands had a net margin of 12.80% and a return on equity of 45.82%. Equities research analysts expect that Las Vegas Sands Corp. will post 2.6 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Las Vegas Sands Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, February 19th. Investors of record on Monday, February 10th were given a $0.25 dividend. This is a boost from Las Vegas Sands’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 10th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.22%. Las Vegas Sands’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 50.76%.

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.