Asset Management One Co. Ltd. Sells 19,047 Shares of Las Vegas Sands Corp. $LVS

Key Points

• Asset Management One Co. Ltd. cut its stake in Las Vegas Sands by 12.8%, selling 19,047 shares in Q4 and retaining 129,280 shares valued at $8.485 million per its SEC filing.
• CEO Patrick Dumont sold 60,165 shares on March 17 at an average price of $54.75 for about $3.29 million, reducing his position by 10.52%; company insiders now own 0.55% of LVS.
• Analysts have trimmed price targets but the stock maintains a consensus Moderate Buy with an average target of $67.84, while the company beat quarterly expectations (EPS $0.85 vs. $0.77; revenue up 26%) and raised its quarterly dividend to $0.30 (2.1% yield).

Asset Management One Co. Ltd. cut its stake in shares of Las Vegas Sands Corp. (NYSE:LVS - Free Report) by 12.8% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 129,280 shares of the casino operator's stock after selling 19,047 shares during the quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd.'s holdings in Las Vegas Sands were worth $8,485,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Grove Bank & Trust bought a new stake in Las Vegas Sands in the 4th quarter worth about $26,000. Westside Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in Las Vegas Sands by 48.0% in the 3rd quarter. Westside Investment Management Inc. now owns 512 shares of the casino operator's stock worth $28,000 after buying an additional 166 shares in the last quarter. Root Financial Partners LLC bought a new stake in Las Vegas Sands in the 3rd quarter worth about $33,000. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in Las Vegas Sands by 549.5% in the 3rd quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 630 shares of the casino operator's stock worth $35,000 after buying an additional 533 shares in the last quarter. Finally, IFP Advisors Inc increased its holdings in Las Vegas Sands by 182.4% in the 3rd quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 672 shares of the casino operator's stock worth $36,000 after buying an additional 434 shares in the last quarter. 39.16% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Las Vegas Sands news, CEO Patrick Dumont sold 60,165 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $54.75, for a total value of $3,294,033.75. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 511,942 shares of the company's stock, valued at $28,028,824.50. This represents a 10.52% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.55% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have issued reports on LVS. Jefferies Financial Group restated a "hold" rating and set a $61.00 price target (down from $72.00) on shares of Las Vegas Sands in a research note on Monday, April 6th. Stifel Nicolaus cut their price target on Las Vegas Sands from $75.00 to $72.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 29th. Argus cut their price target on Las Vegas Sands from $80.00 to $60.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 30th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on Las Vegas Sands from $68.00 to $65.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 16th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price objective on Las Vegas Sands from $80.00 to $73.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 29th. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $67.84.

Las Vegas Sands Stock Performance

NYSE:LVS opened at $57.56 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 7.58, a current ratio of 1.14 and a quick ratio of 1.13. Las Vegas Sands Corp. has a 1 year low of $32.83 and a 1 year high of $70.45. The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $55.15 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $58.98. The company has a market cap of $38.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.60, a PEG ratio of 1.44 and a beta of 0.89.

Las Vegas Sands (NYSE:LVS - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, January 28th. The casino operator reported $0.85 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.77 by $0.08. The firm had revenue of $3.65 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.33 billion. Las Vegas Sands had a return on equity of 91.40% and a net margin of 12.50%.The company's revenue for the quarter was up 26.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.54 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Las Vegas Sands Corp. will post 3.18 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Las Vegas Sands Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, February 18th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 9th were given a $0.30 dividend. This is a boost from Las Vegas Sands's previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 9th. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.1%. Las Vegas Sands's dividend payout ratio is currently 51.28%.

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.

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