Maryland State Retirement & Pension System Sells 2,317 Shares of Las Vegas Sands Corp. (NYSE:LVS)

Maryland State Retirement & Pension System decreased its position in Las Vegas Sands Corp. (NYSE:LVS) by 12.5% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 16,284 shares of the casino operator’s stock after selling 2,317 shares during the quarter. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System’s holdings in Las Vegas Sands were worth $629,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in LVS. Capital Research Global Investors raised its holdings in Las Vegas Sands by 26.5% in the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 58,824,289 shares of the casino operator’s stock worth $3,021,205,000 after purchasing an additional 12,304,533 shares in the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC boosted its position in shares of Las Vegas Sands by 55.7% during the fourth quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 14,218,581 shares of the casino operator’s stock valued at $730,295,000 after buying an additional 5,088,095 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Las Vegas Sands by 5.8% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 41,249,208 shares of the casino operator’s stock valued at $1,593,457,000 after buying an additional 2,267,307 shares during the last quarter. ARGA Investment Management LP boosted its position in shares of Las Vegas Sands by 12.9% during the first quarter. ARGA Investment Management LP now owns 7,342,577 shares of the casino operator’s stock valued at $283,644,000 after buying an additional 841,195 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its position in shares of Las Vegas Sands by 42.7% during the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,652,458 shares of the casino operator’s stock valued at $136,218,000 after buying an additional 793,789 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 39.16% of the company’s stock.

Las Vegas Sands Stock Up 0.9%

LVS stock opened at $54.36 on Thursday. Las Vegas Sands Corp. has a twelve month low of $30.18 and a twelve month high of $56.60. The company has a quick ratio of 1.21, a current ratio of 1.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.53. The stock has a market cap of $37.32 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.45, a PEG ratio of 2.04 and a beta of 1.08. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $47.56 and its 200-day moving average price is $42.80.

Las Vegas Sands (NYSE:LVS) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 23rd. The casino operator reported $0.79 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.53 by $0.26. Las Vegas Sands had a return on equity of 55.37% and a net margin of 12.16%. The firm had revenue of $3.18 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.83 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.55 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 15.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Las Vegas Sands Corp. will post 2.6 EPS for the current year.

Las Vegas Sands declared that its board has authorized a share buyback plan on Wednesday, April 23rd that authorizes the company to buyback $2.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the casino operator to purchase up to 8.2% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are generally an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Las Vegas Sands Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, August 13th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, August 5th were given a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, August 5th. Las Vegas Sands’s payout ratio is presently 50.51%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

LVS has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Barclays increased their price objective on Las Vegas Sands from $57.00 to $58.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on Las Vegas Sands from $47.00 to $50.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 6th. UBS Group increased their price objective on Las Vegas Sands from $48.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 30th. Argus raised Las Vegas Sands from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $60.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Monday, July 28th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group initiated coverage on Las Vegas Sands in a research report on Monday, July 7th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $52.00 price objective on the stock. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $58.33.

Las Vegas Sands Company 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.