Strs Ohio Has $4.86 Million Stock Position in Las Vegas Sands Corp. (NYSE:LVS)

Strs Ohio lowered its holdings in shares of Las Vegas Sands Corp. (NYSE:LVS) by 13.4% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 98,799 shares of the casino operator’s stock after selling 15,234 shares during the period. Strs Ohio’s holdings in Las Vegas Sands were worth $4,861,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Las Vegas Sands by 1.5% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 35,537,902 shares of the casino operator’s stock worth $1,381,358,000 after buying an additional 519,620 shares in the last quarter. BlackRock Inc. increased its holdings in Las Vegas Sands by 1.4% in the 1st quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 23,298,767 shares of the casino operator’s stock worth $1,338,514,000 after purchasing an additional 330,221 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its holdings in Las Vegas Sands by 2.9% in the 1st quarter. State Street Corp now owns 13,898,679 shares of the casino operator’s stock worth $540,242,000 after purchasing an additional 394,616 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Las Vegas Sands by 2.3% in the 1st quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 6,772,725 shares of the casino operator’s stock worth $388,188,000 after purchasing an additional 149,588 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new position in Las Vegas Sands in the 4th quarter worth about $164,559,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 39.16% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on LVS shares. StockNews.com raised Las Vegas Sands from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on Las Vegas Sands from $59.00 to $55.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on Las Vegas Sands from $61.00 to $62.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 9th. Citigroup upped their price target on Las Vegas Sands from $74.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price target on Las Vegas Sands from $70.00 to $65.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Las Vegas Sands currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $64.47.

Las Vegas Sands Stock Down 8.7 %

Shares of Las Vegas Sands stock opened at $45.88 on Friday. Las Vegas Sands Corp. has a one year low of $43.77 and a one 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 stock’s 50-day moving average is $52.22 and its 200 day moving average is $49.60. The firm has a market cap of $34.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.68, a PEG ratio of 0.81 and a beta of 1.16.

Las Vegas Sands (NYSE:LVS) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, April 17th. The casino operator reported $0.75 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.62 by $0.13. Las Vegas Sands had a return on equity of 34.40% and a net margin of 11.77%. The company had revenue of $2.86 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.94 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.28 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 34.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts anticipate that Las Vegas Sands Corp. will post 2.73 EPS for the current year.

Las Vegas Sands Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, February 14th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 6th were issued 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 currently 50.00%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Las Vegas Sands news, CEO Robert G. Goldstein sold 100,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 owns 172,801 shares in the company, valued at $8,996,020.06. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.91% of the company’s stock.

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.