Las Vegas Sands (NYSE:LVS) Price Target Lowered to $55.00 at JPMorgan Chase & Co.

Las Vegas Sands (NYSE:LVS) had its price objective cut by JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $59.00 to $55.00 in a report released on Thursday, Benzinga reports. They currently have an overweight rating on the casino operator’s stock.

Several other equities analysts have also recently commented on the company. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on Las Vegas Sands from $61.00 to $62.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a report on Tuesday, April 9th. Mizuho started coverage on Las Vegas Sands in a report on Tuesday, March 26th. They issued a buy rating and a $70.00 price target for the company. StockNews.com raised Las Vegas Sands from a hold rating to a buy rating in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. Finally, Barclays upped their price target on Las Vegas Sands from $57.00 to $60.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $64.47.

Las Vegas Sands Price Performance

NYSE LVS opened at $45.88 on Thursday. Las Vegas Sands has a twelve month low of $43.77 and a twelve month high of $65.58. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.96, a quick ratio of 1.30 and a current ratio of 1.31. The stock has a market capitalization of $34.47 billion, a PE ratio of 22.16, a P/E/G ratio of 0.82 and a beta of 1.16. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $52.22 and a 200 day simple moving average of $49.60.

Las Vegas Sands (NYSE:LVS) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 17th. The casino operator reported $0.75 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.62 by $0.13. The business had revenue of $2.86 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.94 billion. Las Vegas Sands had a return on equity of 41.81% and a net margin of 13.99%. The firm’s revenue was up 34.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.28 EPS. Research analysts anticipate that Las Vegas Sands will post 2.67 EPS for the current year.

Las Vegas Sands Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, February 14th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 6th were given a dividend of $0.20 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 5th. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.74%. Las Vegas Sands’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 38.65%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related 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 transaction of $5,206,000.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 172,801 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,996,020.06. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.91% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Las Vegas Sands

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in 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 worth $1,815,760,000 after acquiring an additional 4,264,043 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its position in Las Vegas Sands by 20.8% in 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 during the last quarter. BlackRock Inc. boosted its position 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 valued at $1,338,514,000 after buying an additional 330,221 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its position 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 valued at $540,242,000 after buying an additional 394,616 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC boosted its position in Las Vegas Sands by 6.4% in 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 during the last quarter. 39.16% of the stock is currently owned by 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.