Las Vegas Sands Corp. (NYSE:LVS) Shares Sold by Assenagon Asset Management S.A.

Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lowered its holdings in shares of Las Vegas Sands Corp. (NYSE:LVS) by 77.4% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 100,337 shares of the casino operator’s stock after selling 342,988 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A.’s holdings in Las Vegas Sands were worth $5,051,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Las Vegas Sands by 0.6% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 37,107,775 shares of the casino operator’s stock worth $1,918,472,000 after purchasing an additional 209,589 shares during the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its position in shares of 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 in the last quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co lifted its holdings in shares of Las Vegas Sands by 7.8% in the first quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co now owns 211,320 shares of the casino operator’s stock valued at $10,929,000 after purchasing an additional 15,216 shares in the last quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC increased its position in Las Vegas Sands by 2.0% during the first quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 641,682 shares of the casino operator’s stock worth $33,175,000 after buying an additional 12,500 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Van ECK Associates Corp increased its position in Las Vegas Sands by 58.5% during the 1st quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 162,442 shares of the casino operator’s stock worth $8,398,000 after purchasing an additional 59,924 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 39.16% of the company’s stock.

Las Vegas Sands Stock Down 0.4 %

Shares of Las Vegas Sands stock opened at $53.39 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $39.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.43, a P/E/G ratio of 1.49 and a beta of 1.12. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $45.94 and a 200-day simple moving average of $44.38. Las Vegas Sands Corp. has a 52-week low of $36.62 and a 52-week high of $55.65. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.29, a current ratio of 1.58 and a quick ratio of 1.57.

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). The business had revenue of $2.68 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.79 billion. Las Vegas Sands had a return on equity of 44.41% and a net margin of 14.08%. The business’s revenue was down 4.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.55 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts expect that Las Vegas Sands Corp. will post 2.45 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Las Vegas Sands Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 13th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, November 5th will be paid a dividend of $0.20 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, November 4th. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.50%. Las Vegas Sands’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 39.60%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have issued reports on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on Las Vegas Sands from $53.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 15th. Macquarie lowered their target price on Las Vegas Sands from $58.00 to $56.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, July 25th. Barclays lifted their target price on Las Vegas Sands from $52.00 to $58.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Mizuho upped their target price on shares of Las Vegas Sands from $52.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Finally, UBS Group lowered Las Vegas Sands from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their price target for the company from $70.00 to $49.00 in a research note on Friday, August 23rd. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Las Vegas Sands currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $57.92.

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.