Davidson Investment Advisors Sells 60,207 Shares of Las Vegas Sands Corp. $LVS

Key Points

• Davidson Investment Advisors trimmed its stake in Las Vegas Sands by 22.3%, selling 60,207 shares and leaving 209,394 shares valued at about $13.63 million after the sale.
• CEO Patrick Dumont sold 60,165 shares at an average price of $54.75 for roughly $3.29 million, reducing his ownership by 10.52% to 511,942 shares (company insiders own 0.55% of the stock).
• Las Vegas Sands reported quarterly results that beat EPS and revenue expectations with revenue up 26% year-over-year, and the company raised its quarterly dividend to $0.30 ($1.20 annualized), a ~2.1% yield.

Davidson Investment Advisors trimmed its stake in Las Vegas Sands Corp. (NYSE:LVS - Free Report) by 22.3% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 209,394 shares of the casino operator's stock after selling 60,207 shares during the period. Davidson Investment Advisors' holdings in Las Vegas Sands were worth $13,629,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC increased its position in shares of Las Vegas Sands by 43.8% in the third quarter. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC now owns 5,454,013 shares of the casino operator's stock worth $293,371,000 after purchasing an additional 1,660,823 shares during the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership increased its position in shares of Las Vegas Sands by 410.2% in the third quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 5,167,553 shares of the casino operator's stock worth $277,963,000 after purchasing an additional 4,154,753 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its position in shares of Las Vegas Sands by 5.3% in the third quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,723,494 shares of the casino operator's stock worth $200,335,000 after purchasing an additional 187,389 shares during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Las Vegas Sands by 64.5% in the third quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 2,819,128 shares of the casino operator's stock worth $151,641,000 after purchasing an additional 1,105,630 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc increased its position in shares of Las Vegas Sands by 0.9% in the third quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 1,822,120 shares of the casino operator's stock worth $98,012,000 after purchasing an additional 16,674 shares during the last quarter. 39.16% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

LVS has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Las Vegas Sands from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Saturday, February 14th. Barclays set a $64.00 target price on Las Vegas Sands in a research note on Thursday, January 29th. Zacks Research lowered Las Vegas Sands from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, December 22nd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their target price on Las Vegas Sands from $76.00 to $77.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, January 29th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reaffirmed a "mixed" rating on shares of Las Vegas Sands in a research note on Wednesday, April 8th. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Las Vegas Sands has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $67.84.

Insider Buying and Selling at Las Vegas Sands

In other news, CEO Patrick Dumont sold 60,165 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $54.75, for a total transaction of $3,294,033.75. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 511,942 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $28,028,824.50. This represents a 10.52% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.55% of the company's stock.

Las Vegas Sands Stock Up 0.0%

Shares of LVS opened at $57.66 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $38.26 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.64, a P/E/G ratio of 1.45 and a beta of 0.89. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $55.14 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $58.92. 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 $32.20 and a 1 year high of $70.45.

Las Vegas Sands (NYSE:LVS - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, January 28th. The casino operator reported $0.85 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.77 by $0.08. The business had revenue of $3.65 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.33 billion. Las Vegas Sands had a return on equity of 91.40% and a net margin of 12.50%.Las Vegas Sands's revenue for the quarter was up 26.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.54 earnings per share. On average, analysts forecast that Las Vegas Sands Corp. will post 2.6 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Las Vegas Sands Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, February 18th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 9th were paid a dividend of $0.30 per share. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.1%. 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. Las Vegas Sands's payout ratio is currently 51.28%.

Las Vegas Sands Company Profile

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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