New York State Teachers Retirement System Sells 12,115 Shares of Las Vegas Sands Corp. $LVS

New York State Teachers Retirement System trimmed its position in shares of Las Vegas Sands Corp. (NYSE:LVS) by 4.2% during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 279,421 shares of the casino operator’s stock after selling 12,115 shares during the quarter. New York State Teachers Retirement System’s holdings in Las Vegas Sands were worth $15,030,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Forum Financial Management LP bought a new position in Las Vegas Sands in the 3rd quarter valued at $230,000. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund grew its holdings in shares of Las Vegas Sands by 20.7% in the 3rd quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund now owns 35,324 shares of the casino operator’s stock valued at $1,900,000 after buying an additional 6,061 shares during the period. Lecap Asset Management Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of Las Vegas Sands during the third quarter worth about $642,000. HB Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Las Vegas Sands by 23.8% during the third quarter. HB Wealth Management LLC now owns 7,736 shares of the casino operator’s stock worth $416,000 after acquiring an additional 1,485 shares during the period. Finally, Moran Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Las Vegas Sands during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $289,000. 39.16% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on LVS shares. Barclays increased their price objective on Las Vegas Sands from $59.00 to $62.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 23rd. Wall Street Zen downgraded Las Vegas Sands from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, December 27th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of Las Vegas Sands from $60.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 23rd. Mizuho raised their price objective on shares of Las Vegas Sands from $56.00 to $63.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 23rd. Finally, Argus raised their price objective on Las Vegas Sands from $65.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, December 1st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have given a Buy rating and six have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Las Vegas Sands presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $68.52.

Las Vegas Sands Stock Down 0.2%

LVS stock opened at $59.79 on Wednesday. The business has a 50 day moving average of $65.43 and a 200 day moving average of $57.25. The firm has a market cap of $40.43 billion, a PE ratio of 27.05, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.45 and a beta of 0.97. Las Vegas Sands Corp. has a twelve month low of $30.18 and a twelve month high of $70.45. The company has a quick ratio of 0.88, a current ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 7.42.

Las Vegas Sands (NYSE:LVS) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, October 22nd. The casino operator reported $0.78 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.62 by $0.16. The company had revenue of $3.33 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.04 billion. Las Vegas Sands had a net margin of 12.69% and a return on equity of 73.14%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 24.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.44 earnings per share. On average, research analysts forecast that Las Vegas Sands Corp. will post 2.6 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Las Vegas Sands Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 12th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, November 4th were issued a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, November 4th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.7%. Las Vegas Sands’s payout ratio is 45.25%.

Insider Activity at Las Vegas Sands

In other Las Vegas Sands news, COO Patrick Dumont sold 210,305 shares of Las Vegas Sands stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $69.96, for a total value of $14,712,937.80. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer owned 446,608 shares in the company, valued at $31,244,695.68. The trade was a 32.01% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Robert G. Goldstein sold 1,198,650 shares of Las Vegas Sands stock in a transaction on Wednesday, December 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $66.68, for a total transaction of $79,925,982.00. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold 5,182,053 shares of company stock valued at $333,348,399 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 1.20% of the company’s stock.

About Las Vegas Sands

Las Vegas Sands (NYSE: LVS) is a global developer and operator of integrated resorts, focused on large-scale properties that combine casino gaming with hotels, convention and exhibition facilities, retail, dining, and entertainment. The company’s operations center on developing and managing full-service resort complexes that serve both leisure and business travelers, with emphasis on convention and trade-show business in addition to gaming revenue streams.

The company’s portfolio has included prominent properties in North America and Asia, most notably The Venetian Resort in Las Vegas and Marina Bay Sands in Singapore, along with a significant presence in Macau through multiple integrated resorts.