Retirement Systems of Alabama Has $4 Million Holdings in Las Vegas Sands Corp. (NYSE:LVS)

Retirement Systems of Alabama lifted its holdings in Las Vegas Sands Corp. (NYSE:LVS) by 9.5% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 81,357 shares of the casino operator’s stock after purchasing an additional 7,032 shares during the quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama’s holdings in Las Vegas Sands were worth $4,004,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Charles Lim Capital Ltd boosted its stake in shares of Las Vegas Sands by 296.2% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Lim Capital Ltd now owns 2,575,000 shares of the casino operator’s stock worth $118,038,000 after buying an additional 1,925,000 shares during the last quarter. Integrated Investment Consultants LLC bought a new position in Las Vegas Sands in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $45,752,000. PointState Capital LP grew its stake in Las Vegas Sands by 81.9% in the third quarter. PointState Capital LP now owns 1,927,404 shares of the casino operator’s stock valued at $88,352,000 after purchasing an additional 868,005 shares in the last quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Las Vegas Sands during the 4th quarter worth approximately $33,620,000. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Las Vegas Sands by 359.1% during the 3rd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 806,403 shares of the casino operator’s stock worth $36,966,000 after purchasing an additional 630,747 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 39.16% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Robert G. Goldstein sold 100,000 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,996,020.06. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 1.20% of the company’s stock.

Las Vegas Sands Trading Up 0.7 %

Shares of Las Vegas Sands stock opened at $47.02 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.96, a quick ratio of 1.29 and a current ratio of 1.30. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $50.21 and a 200-day moving average of $49.70. Las Vegas Sands Corp. has a 52-week low of $43.77 and a 52-week high of $63.51. The stock has a market cap of $35.03 billion, a PE ratio of 22.71, a PEG ratio of 0.87 and a beta of 1.18.

Las Vegas Sands (NYSE:LVS) last issued 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. Las Vegas Sands had a net margin of 13.99% and a return on equity of 42.34%. The business had revenue of $2.86 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.94 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.28 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 34.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Las Vegas Sands Corp. will post 2.63 EPS for the current year.

Las Vegas Sands Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, May 7th will be given a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.70%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, May 6th. Las Vegas Sands’s dividend payout ratio is currently 38.65%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on LVS. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on shares of Las Vegas Sands from $59.00 to $55.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 18th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on shares of Las Vegas Sands from $62.00 to $60.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 18th. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their price target on Las Vegas Sands from $54.00 to $53.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 18th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft dropped their price objective on Las Vegas Sands from $66.00 to $62.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 18th. Finally, Citigroup raised 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, April 18th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $63.46.

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.