Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund Trims Stock Holdings in Las Vegas Sands Corp. $LVS

Key Points

• The Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund reduced its holdings in Las Vegas Sands Corp. by 18.8%, now owning 62,703 shares valued at $2.42 million.
• Multiple hedge funds have adjusted their positions in Las Vegas Sands, with Achmea Investment Management increasing its stake by 55.4% during the first quarter, signaling growing investor interest in the company.
• Las Vegas Sands reported earnings per share of $0.79 for the most recent quarter, exceeding estimates, while also announcing a quarterly dividend of $0.25 per share.

Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund decreased its position in shares of Las Vegas Sands Corp. (NYSE:LVS - Free Report) by 18.8% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 62,703 shares of the casino operator's stock after selling 14,500 shares during the quarter. Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund's holdings in Las Vegas Sands were worth $2,422,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Janus Henderson Group PLC lifted its holdings in shares of Las Vegas Sands by 55.7% in the fourth quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 14,218,581 shares of the casino operator's stock worth $730,295,000 after acquiring an additional 5,088,095 shares during the last quarter. Nuveen LLC acquired a new stake in Las Vegas Sands during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $183,836,000. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in Las Vegas Sands by 5.8% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 41,249,208 shares of the casino operator's stock valued at $1,593,457,000 after purchasing an additional 2,267,307 shares during the period. ARGA Investment Management LP increased its position in Las Vegas Sands by 12.9% during the 1st quarter. ARGA Investment Management LP now owns 7,342,577 shares of the casino operator's stock valued at $283,644,000 after purchasing an additional 841,195 shares during the period. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its position in Las Vegas Sands by 42.7% during the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,652,458 shares of the casino operator's stock valued at $136,218,000 after purchasing an additional 793,789 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 39.16% of the company's stock.

Las Vegas Sands Stock Performance

LVS traded up $1.5650 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $55.0750. The stock had a trading volume of 2,382,672 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,625,143. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $49.02 and its 200 day simple moving average is $43.16. Las Vegas Sands Corp. has a 1 year low of $30.18 and a 1 year high of $56.60. The stock has a market cap of $37.81 billion, a PE ratio of 27.81, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.03 and a beta of 1.08. The company has a quick ratio of 1.21, a current ratio of 1.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.53.

Las Vegas Sands (NYSE:LVS - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results 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. 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 quarterly revenue was up 15.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.55 EPS. Equities analysts anticipate that Las Vegas Sands Corp. will post 2.6 earnings per share for the current year.

Las Vegas Sands Dividend Announcement

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

LVS has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of 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. Argus upgraded Las Vegas Sands from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $60.00 target price on the stock in a report on Monday, July 28th. The Goldman Sachs Group assumed coverage on Las Vegas Sands in a report on Monday, July 7th. They issued a "neutral" rating and a $52.00 target price on the stock. Macquarie raised their price objective on Las Vegas Sands from $52.00 to $58.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 24th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus set a $57.00 price objective on Las Vegas Sands and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have issued a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $58.33.

About Las Vegas Sands

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.