IFM Investors Pty Ltd Lowers Stake in Las Vegas Sands Corp. (NYSE:LVS)

IFM Investors Pty Ltd reduced its holdings in shares of Las Vegas Sands Corp. (NYSE:LVS) by 18.5% in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 57,588 shares of the casino operator’s stock after selling 13,113 shares during the period. IFM Investors Pty Ltd’s holdings in Las Vegas Sands were worth $2,899,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of LVS. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in Las Vegas Sands by 0.6% during 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 increased 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 in the last quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co increased its stake 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 valued at $10,929,000 after purchasing an additional 15,216 shares in the last quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC increased its stake in Las Vegas Sands by 2.0% during the 1st quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 641,682 shares of the casino operator’s stock valued at $33,175,000 after purchasing an additional 12,500 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its stake in Las Vegas Sands by 7,647.7% during 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. 39.16% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have weighed in on LVS. Susquehanna raised their price objective on shares of Las Vegas Sands from $51.00 to $59.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. UBS Group lowered shares of Las Vegas Sands from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their price target for the stock from $70.00 to $49.00 in a research note on Friday, August 23rd. StockNews.com lowered shares of Las Vegas Sands from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 25th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reduced their price target 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. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of Las Vegas Sands from $53.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 15th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $57.92.

Las Vegas Sands Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE LVS opened at $52.76 on Monday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $45.43 and a 200 day moving average of $44.35. 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 has a market capitalization of $39.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.49, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.49 and a beta of 1.12. Las Vegas Sands Corp. has a 12-month low of $36.62 and a 12-month high of $55.65.

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

Las Vegas Sands Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 13th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, November 5th will be given a $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, November 4th. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.52%. Las Vegas Sands’s payout ratio is currently 38.65%.

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.