Las Vegas Sands (NYSE:LVS) CEO Robert Goldstein Sells 400,000 Shares

Las Vegas Sands Corp. (NYSE:LVS) CEO Robert Goldstein sold 400,000 shares of Las Vegas Sands stock in a transaction on Friday, October 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $59.20, for a total transaction of $23,680,000.00. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink.

Las Vegas Sands Price Performance

Shares of NYSE LVS traded down $0.43 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $61.30. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 7,194,837 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,624,566. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $53.99 and a two-hundred day moving average of $48.17. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 7.42, a quick ratio of 1.21 and a current ratio of 0.89. The stock has a market capitalization of $41.45 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.74, a P/E/G ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 1.01. Las Vegas Sands Corp. has a 1-year low of $30.18 and a 1-year high of $61.83.

Las Vegas Sands (NYSE:LVS) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 22nd. The casino operator reported $0.78 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.62 by $0.16. The company had revenue of $3.33 billion during 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%. Las Vegas Sands’s revenue was up 24.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.44 EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Las Vegas Sands Corp. will post 2.6 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Las Vegas Sands Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 12th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, November 4th will be paid a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, November 4th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.6%. Las Vegas Sands’s payout ratio is 45.25%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Las Vegas Sands

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in LVS. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in Las Vegas Sands by 4.4% in the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 43,072,014 shares of the casino operator’s stock valued at $1,874,063,000 after purchasing an additional 1,822,806 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its position in shares of Las Vegas Sands by 3.9% during the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 15,722,816 shares of the casino operator’s stock worth $607,373,000 after buying an additional 592,321 shares in the last quarter. ARGA Investment Management LP increased its stake in shares of Las Vegas Sands by 36.8% during the second quarter. ARGA Investment Management LP now owns 10,040,975 shares of the casino operator’s stock worth $436,883,000 after buying an additional 2,698,398 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. raised its holdings in Las Vegas Sands by 4.9% in the second quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 9,902,619 shares of the casino operator’s stock valued at $430,863,000 after acquiring an additional 459,821 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Las Vegas Sands by 0.4% in 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 acquiring an additional 31,153 shares in the last quarter. 39.16% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have issued reports on LVS shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on Las Vegas Sands from $60.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 23rd. Citigroup reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Las Vegas Sands in a report on Wednesday, July 9th. UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of Las Vegas Sands from $55.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 28th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on shares of Las Vegas Sands from $57.00 to $64.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, October 24th. Finally, Barclays increased their price target on shares of Las Vegas Sands from $59.00 to $62.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 23rd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have issued a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $64.13.

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.