Versor Investments LP Sells 5,700 Shares of Las Vegas Sands Corp. $LVS

Key Points

• Versor Investments LP significantly reduced its stake in Las Vegas Sands by 45.2%, leaving them with 6,900 shares valued at approximately $267,000.
• Las Vegas Sands reported a strong earnings performance for the last quarter, with an EPS of $0.79, surpassing analysts' estimates of $0.53, and revenue of $3.18 billion, exceeding expectations of $2.83 billion.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.25 per share, which corresponds to an annual dividend yield of 1.9% and signifies a payout ratio of 50.51%.

Versor Investments LP lessened its holdings in Las Vegas Sands Corp. (NYSE:LVS - Free Report) by 45.2% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 6,900 shares of the casino operator's stock after selling 5,700 shares during the quarter. Versor Investments LP's holdings in Las Vegas Sands were worth $267,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in LVS. Janus Henderson Group PLC raised its holdings in Las Vegas Sands by 55.7% in the 4th 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 during the last quarter. Nuveen LLC bought a new position in Las Vegas Sands in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $183,836,000. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in Las Vegas Sands by 5.8% in 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 buying an additional 2,267,307 shares during the last quarter. ARGA Investment Management LP raised its holdings in Las Vegas Sands by 12.9% in 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 buying an additional 841,195 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its holdings in Las Vegas Sands by 42.7% in 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 buying an additional 793,789 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 39.16% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on LVS. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of Las Vegas Sands from $47.00 to $50.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Wednesday, August 6th. UBS Group raised their price target on shares of Las Vegas Sands from $48.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 30th. Citigroup restated a "buy" rating on shares of Las Vegas Sands in a report on Wednesday, July 9th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Las Vegas Sands from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Saturday, July 26th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group started coverage on shares of Las Vegas Sands in a report on Monday, July 7th. They set a "neutral" rating and a $52.00 price target for the company. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have given a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $58.33.

Las Vegas Sands Trading Up 2.8%

Shares of NYSE:LVS traded up $1.4920 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $55.0020. The company had a trading volume of 4,015,011 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,099,417. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $49.31 and a 200 day moving average price of $43.23. The company has a market capitalization of $37.76 billion, a PE ratio of 27.78, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.08 and a beta of 1.08. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.53, a current ratio of 1.22 and a quick ratio of 1.21. Las Vegas Sands Corp. has a one year low of $30.18 and a one year high of $56.60.

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, beating the consensus estimate of $0.53 by $0.26. The company had revenue of $3.18 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.83 billion. Las Vegas Sands had a net margin of 12.16% and a return on equity of 55.37%. Las Vegas Sands's revenue for the quarter was up 15.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.55 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that Las Vegas Sands Corp. will post 2.6 EPS for the current 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 $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, August 5th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.8%. Las Vegas Sands's payout ratio 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.