Las Vegas Sands (NYSE:LVS) PT Lowered to $65.00 at Stifel Nicolaus

Las Vegas Sands (NYSE:LVS) had its target price decreased by Stifel Nicolaus from $70.00 to $65.00 in a report published on Thursday morning, Benzinga reports. Stifel Nicolaus currently has a buy rating on the casino operator’s stock.

Other equities analysts also recently issued reports about the company. Mizuho reduced their price target on Las Vegas Sands from $70.00 to $65.00 and set a buy rating for the company in a report on Thursday. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reduced their price target on Las Vegas Sands from $66.00 to $62.00 and set a buy rating for the company in a report on Thursday. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their price objective on Las Vegas Sands from $54.00 to $53.00 and set a hold rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday. Citigroup increased their price objective on Las Vegas Sands from $74.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on Las Vegas Sands from $61.00 to $62.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 9th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Las Vegas Sands currently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $64.47.

Las Vegas Sands Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:LVS opened at $45.88 on Thursday. Las Vegas Sands has a 1-year low of $43.77 and a 1-year high of $65.58. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.96, a current ratio of 1.31 and a quick ratio of 1.30. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $52.22 and a 200-day moving average price of $49.60. The company has a market capitalization of $34.47 billion, a PE ratio of 22.16, a PEG ratio of 0.82 and a beta of 1.16.

Las Vegas Sands (NYSE:LVS) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 17th. The casino operator reported $0.75 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.62 by $0.13. Las Vegas Sands had a return on equity of 41.81% and a net margin of 13.99%. The firm had revenue of $2.86 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.94 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.28 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 34.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts expect that Las Vegas Sands will post 2.67 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Las Vegas Sands Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, February 14th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 6th were given a $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 5th. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.74%. Las Vegas Sands’s payout ratio is 38.65%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Las Vegas Sands news, CEO Robert G. Goldstein sold 100,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $52.06, for a total value of $5,206,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 172,801 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,996,020.06. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders own 0.91% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Las Vegas Sands by 13.1% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 36,898,186 shares of the casino operator’s stock valued at $1,815,760,000 after buying an additional 4,264,043 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its position in shares of Las Vegas Sands by 20.8% during the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 31,638,753 shares of the casino operator’s stock valued at $1,556,945,000 after buying an additional 5,439,735 shares in the last quarter. BlackRock Inc. lifted its position in shares of Las Vegas Sands by 1.4% during the 1st quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 23,298,767 shares of the casino operator’s stock valued at $1,338,514,000 after buying an additional 330,221 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its position in shares of Las Vegas Sands by 2.9% during the 1st quarter. State Street Corp now owns 13,898,679 shares of the casino operator’s stock valued at $540,242,000 after buying an additional 394,616 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Las Vegas Sands by 6.4% during the 4th quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 11,275,127 shares of the casino operator’s stock valued at $554,849,000 after buying an additional 680,575 shares in the last quarter. 39.16% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.