Profund Advisors LLC Sells 1,557 Shares of Las Vegas Sands Corp. (NYSE:LVS)

Profund Advisors LLC decreased its holdings in shares of Las Vegas Sands Corp. (NYSE:LVS) by 17.8% in the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 7,188 shares of the casino operator’s stock after selling 1,557 shares during the quarter. Profund Advisors LLC’s holdings in Las Vegas Sands were worth $318,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in LVS. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Las Vegas Sands by 0.6% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 37,107,775 shares of the casino operator’s stock valued at $1,918,472,000 after acquiring an additional 209,589 shares during the period. Nordea Investment Management AB raised its stake in Las Vegas Sands by 27.6% during the 1st quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 891,796 shares of the casino operator’s stock valued at $46,124,000 after purchasing an additional 193,110 shares during the last quarter. ARGA Investment Management LP boosted its holdings in Las Vegas Sands by 6.4% in the 1st quarter. ARGA Investment Management LP now owns 3,308,987 shares of the casino operator’s stock valued at $171,075,000 after purchasing an additional 198,413 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp grew its position in Las Vegas Sands by 3.2% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 2,964,600 shares of the casino operator’s stock worth $145,888,000 after purchasing an additional 91,075 shares during the last quarter. Finally, CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co increased its holdings in shares of Las Vegas Sands by 7.8% during the 1st quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co now owns 211,320 shares of the casino operator’s stock worth $10,929,000 after purchasing an additional 15,216 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 39.16% of the company’s stock.

Las Vegas Sands Price Performance

Shares of Las Vegas Sands stock opened at $51.12 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $38.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.70, a P/E/G ratio of 1.20 and a beta of 1.11. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $40.45 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $44.45. The company has a current ratio of 1.58, a quick ratio of 1.57 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.29. Las Vegas Sands Corp. has a 1-year low of $36.62 and a 1-year high of $55.65.

Las Vegas Sands (NYSE:LVS) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 24th. The casino operator reported $0.55 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.56 by ($0.01). Las Vegas Sands had a return on equity of 44.41% and a net margin of 14.08%. The business had revenue of $2.76 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.82 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.46 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 8.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts predict that Las Vegas Sands Corp. will post 2.45 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Las Vegas Sands Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, August 14th. Investors of record on Tuesday, August 6th were issued a $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, August 6th. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.56%. Las Vegas Sands’s dividend payout ratio is 38.65%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on LVS shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reduced their target price 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. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their price objective on Las Vegas Sands from $53.00 to $47.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, July 11th. Barclays lowered their price objective on Las Vegas Sands from $57.00 to $52.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, July 25th. Susquehanna lowered their price target on shares of Las Vegas Sands from $59.00 to $51.00 and set a “positive” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, July 25th. Finally, UBS Group downgraded shares of Las Vegas Sands from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their price objective for the stock from $70.00 to $49.00 in a report on Friday, August 23rd. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $55.25.

Las Vegas Sands Profile

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.