Hartford Investment Management Co. Decreases Stake in Las Vegas Sands Corp. (NYSE:LVS)

Hartford Investment Management Co. trimmed its holdings in shares of Las Vegas Sands Corp. (NYSE:LVS) by 5.0% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 22,168 shares of the casino operator’s stock after selling 1,167 shares during the quarter. Hartford Investment Management Co.’s holdings in Las Vegas Sands were worth $1,116,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of 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 valued at $1,918,472,000 after purchasing an additional 209,589 shares in the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB boosted 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 acquiring an additional 193,110 shares during the last quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co grew its holdings in 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 acquiring an additional 15,216 shares in the last quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC increased its position in shares of Las Vegas Sands by 2.0% in the 1st quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 641,682 shares of the casino operator’s stock worth $33,175,000 after purchasing an additional 12,500 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its stake in shares of Las Vegas Sands by 7,647.7% in the 2nd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 443,325 shares of the casino operator’s stock valued at $19,617,000 after purchasing an additional 437,603 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 39.16% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

LVS has been the subject of a number of research reports. Barclays lifted their price target on Las Vegas Sands from $52.00 to $58.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Mizuho boosted their price target on Las Vegas Sands from $52.00 to $57.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on Las Vegas Sands from $53.00 to $60.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 1st. Susquehanna lifted their price objective on shares of Las Vegas Sands from $51.00 to $59.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of Las Vegas Sands from $53.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 15th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $57.92.

Las Vegas Sands Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:LVS opened at $52.76 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.58, a quick ratio of 1.57 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.29. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $45.18 and its two-hundred day moving average is $44.45. The firm has a market capitalization of $39.31 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.49, a PEG ratio of 1.49 and a beta of 1.12. Las Vegas Sands Corp. has a 52 week low of $36.62 and a 52 week high of $55.65.

Las Vegas Sands (NYSE:LVS) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The casino operator reported $0.44 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.53 by ($0.09). Las Vegas Sands had a net margin of 14.08% and a return on equity of 44.41%. The business had revenue of $2.68 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.79 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.55 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was down 4.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts anticipate that Las Vegas Sands Corp. will post 2.45 earnings per share for the current year.

Las Vegas Sands Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 13th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, November 5th will be paid a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.52%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, November 5th. Las Vegas Sands’s dividend payout ratio is presently 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.