Las Vegas Sands Corp. $LVS Holdings Decreased by Harvest Portfolios Group Inc.

Key Points

• Harvest Portfolios Group Inc. reduced its holdings in Las Vegas Sands Corp. by 12.1%, selling 7,042 shares to end up with 51,160 shares valued at approximately $1.98 million.
• Analysts have upgraded their ratings for Las Vegas Sands, with Macquarie setting a new target price of $58.00 and multiple reports indicating a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy".
• Las Vegas Sands reported a significant increase in earnings, with $0.79 EPS for the quarter exceeding expectations and a revenue rise of 15.0% year-over-year.

Harvest Portfolios Group Inc. lowered its position in shares of Las Vegas Sands Corp. (NYSE:LVS - Free Report) by 12.1% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 51,160 shares of the casino operator's stock after selling 7,042 shares during the quarter. Harvest Portfolios Group Inc.'s holdings in Las Vegas Sands were worth $1,976,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in 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 in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its stake in Las Vegas Sands by 3.9% during the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 15,722,816 shares of the casino operator's stock valued at $607,373,000 after buying an additional 592,321 shares in the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC raised its stake in 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 in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its stake in Las Vegas Sands by 6.5% during the first quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 12,415,492 shares of the casino operator's stock valued at $479,610,000 after buying an additional 752,944 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. raised its stake in Las Vegas Sands by 9.1% during the first quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 9,442,798 shares of the casino operator's stock valued at $364,775,000 after buying an additional 790,952 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 39.16% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

LVS has been the topic of a number of research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on Las Vegas Sands from $47.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. 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 target on the stock. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on Las Vegas Sands from $47.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 6th. Macquarie increased their price target on Las Vegas Sands from $52.00 to $58.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. Finally, Susquehanna dropped their price target on Las Vegas Sands from $59.00 to $58.00 and set a "positive" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, July 21st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have given a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $59.00.

Las Vegas Sands Price Performance

NYSE LVS traded down $0.07 on Monday, reaching $57.65. 3,245,367 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,777,249. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $50.80 and its 200 day simple moving average is $43.76. 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 company has a market cap of $39.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.11, a P/E/G ratio of 2.18 and a beta of 1.04. Las Vegas Sands Corp. has a 12 month low of $30.18 and a 12 month high of $58.05.

Las Vegas Sands (NYSE:LVS - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 23rd. The casino operator reported $0.79 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.53 by $0.26. The business had revenue of $3.18 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.83 billion. Las Vegas Sands had a return on equity of 55.37% and a net margin of 12.16%.The company's revenue was up 15.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.55 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that Las Vegas Sands Corp. will post 2.6 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Las Vegas Sands Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, August 13th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, August 5th were paid a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, August 5th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.7%. Las Vegas Sands's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 50.51%.

Las Vegas Sands 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.