Geode Capital Management LLC Lowers Position in Las Vegas Sands Corp. $LVS

Key Points

• Geode Capital Management trimmed its Las Vegas Sands stake by 0.6% in the fourth quarter, though it still held more than 8.3 million shares valued at about $538.3 million.
• Wall Street sentiment remains generally positive: the stock carries a Moderate Buy consensus, with 11 Buy ratings and 7 Hold ratings, even as some firms adjusted price targets and Wall Street Zen downgraded it to Hold.
• Las Vegas Sands recently reported better-than-expected quarterly results, posting EPS of $0.91 versus $0.76 expected and revenue of $3.59 billion, while also paying a quarterly dividend of $0.30 per share.

Geode Capital Management LLC cut its stake in shares of Las Vegas Sands Corp. (NYSE:LVS - Free Report) by 0.6% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 8,301,257 shares of the casino operator's stock after selling 53,527 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC owned about 1.23% of Las Vegas Sands worth $538,300,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Mackenzie Financial Corp lifted its position in Las Vegas Sands by 0.3% during the third quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 53,945 shares of the casino operator's stock valued at $2,902,000 after purchasing an additional 156 shares in the last quarter. Westside Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Las Vegas Sands by 48.0% in the third quarter. Westside Investment Management Inc. now owns 512 shares of the casino operator's stock valued at $28,000 after acquiring an additional 166 shares in the last quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Las Vegas Sands by 7.8% in the third quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 2,449 shares of the casino operator's stock valued at $132,000 after acquiring an additional 177 shares in the last quarter. Alps Advisors Inc. lifted its position in shares of Las Vegas Sands by 2.4% in the third quarter. Alps Advisors Inc. now owns 8,528 shares of the casino operator's stock valued at $459,000 after acquiring an additional 197 shares in the last quarter. Finally, United Capital Financial Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Las Vegas Sands by 5.5% in the third quarter. United Capital Financial Advisors LLC now owns 4,945 shares of the casino operator's stock valued at $266,000 after acquiring an additional 258 shares in the last quarter. 39.16% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently commented on the company. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered their price objective on Las Vegas Sands from $77.00 to $73.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 23rd. Mizuho boosted their price objective on Las Vegas Sands from $65.00 to $67.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 23rd. Wall Street Zen downgraded Las Vegas Sands from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, May 23rd. Barclays boosted their price objective on Las Vegas Sands from $64.00 to $65.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 23rd. Finally, Citigroup boosted their price objective on Las Vegas Sands from $76.75 to $78.50 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, April 13th. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $68.28.

Insider Activity at Las Vegas Sands

In other news, CEO Patrick Dumont sold 60,165 shares of the company's 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 transaction, 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 filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.55% of the company's stock.

Las Vegas Sands Trading Down 1.3%

LVS opened at $50.46 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $33.44 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.69, a P/E/G ratio of 1.15 and a beta of 0.85. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $53.14 and its 200-day moving average price is $58.39. Las Vegas Sands Corp. has a one year low of $40.03 and a one year high of $70.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.64, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a current ratio of 0.92.

Las Vegas Sands (NYSE:LVS - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 22nd. The casino operator reported $0.91 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.76 by $0.15. The firm had revenue of $3.59 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.32 billion. Las Vegas Sands had a return on equity of 118.27% and a net margin of 13.41%.The company's quarterly revenue was up 25.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.59 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast that Las Vegas Sands Corp. will post 3.38 EPS for the current year.

Las Vegas Sands Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 13th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, May 5th were paid a dividend of $0.30 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, May 5th. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.4%. Las Vegas Sands's dividend payout ratio is currently 44.44%.

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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