Las Vegas Sands Corp. (NYSE:LVS) Shares Sold by Fifth Third Bancorp

Fifth Third Bancorp trimmed its holdings in shares of Las Vegas Sands Corp. (NYSE:LVS) by 6.9% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 30,081 shares of the casino operator’s stock after selling 2,245 shares during the quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp’s holdings in Las Vegas Sands were worth $1,331,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Clearbridge Investments LLC lifted its holdings in Las Vegas Sands by 3.1% during the fourth quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 629,182 shares of the casino operator’s stock valued at $30,962,000 after purchasing an additional 19,200 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Las Vegas Sands by 0.6% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 37,107,775 shares of the casino operator’s stock worth $1,918,472,000 after buying an additional 209,589 shares during the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its holdings in Las Vegas Sands by 27.6% in the 1st quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 891,796 shares of the casino operator’s stock worth $46,124,000 after buying an additional 193,110 shares during the last quarter. ARGA Investment Management LP increased its stake in Las Vegas Sands by 6.4% during the 1st quarter. ARGA Investment Management LP now owns 3,308,987 shares of the casino operator’s stock worth $171,075,000 after buying an additional 198,413 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp raised its holdings in shares of Las Vegas Sands by 3.2% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 2,964,600 shares of the casino operator’s stock valued at $145,888,000 after acquiring an additional 91,075 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 39.16% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts recently commented on the company. StockNews.com cut Las Vegas Sands from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 25th. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their price target on shares of Las Vegas Sands from $53.00 to $47.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, July 11th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft dropped their price objective on shares of Las Vegas Sands from $61.00 to $55.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, July 25th. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price target on Las Vegas Sands from $65.00 to $55.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, July 25th. Finally, Susquehanna dropped their target price on Las Vegas Sands from $59.00 to $51.00 and set a “positive” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, July 25th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $58.00.

Las Vegas Sands Stock Up 0.8 %

NYSE:LVS opened at $41.30 on Thursday. Las Vegas Sands Corp. has a 52 week low of $36.62 and a 52 week high of $55.73. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $41.49 and its two-hundred day moving average is $46.65. The stock has a market capitalization of $30.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.95, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.04 and a beta of 1.12. The company has a quick ratio of 1.29, a current ratio of 1.58 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.29.

Las Vegas Sands (NYSE:LVS) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, July 24th. The casino operator reported $0.55 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.56 by ($0.01). The firm had revenue of $2.76 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.82 billion. Las Vegas Sands had a return on equity of 44.41% and a net margin of 14.08%. Las Vegas Sands’s revenue was up 8.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.46 EPS. Research analysts anticipate that Las Vegas Sands Corp. will post 2.48 EPS for the current year.

Las Vegas Sands Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, August 14th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, August 6th were paid a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.94%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, August 6th. Las Vegas Sands’s payout ratio is 38.65%.

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.