Las Vegas Sands (NYSE:LVS) Lowered to Hold Rating by Wall Street Zen

Key Points

• Wall Street Zen downgraded Las Vegas Sands from a “buy” to a “hold” rating, adding to a mixed analyst picture around the stock.
• The company recently beat quarterly earnings and revenue estimates, reporting EPS of $0.91 on revenue of $3.59 billion, with revenue up 25.3% year over year.
• Las Vegas Sands shares were trading around $49.38, below both its 50-day and 200-day moving averages, while analysts overall still rate it a Moderate Buy with an average target price of $68.28.

Las Vegas Sands (NYSE:LVS - Get Free Report) was downgraded by analysts at Wall Street Zen from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a note issued to investors on Saturday.

LVS has been the topic of a number of other reports. Seaport Research Partners cut their target price on shares of Las Vegas Sands from $72.00 to $69.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 21st. Mizuho increased their price target on shares of Las Vegas Sands from $65.00 to $67.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 23rd. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price target on shares of Las Vegas Sands from $80.00 to $73.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 29th. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price target on shares of Las Vegas Sands from $61.00 to $63.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 23rd. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus increased their price target on shares of Las Vegas Sands from $72.00 to $74.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 23rd. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $68.28.

Las Vegas Sands Stock Down 0.1%

LVS stock opened at $49.38 on Friday. The company's 50 day moving average price is $53.49 and its 200 day moving average price is $58.82. 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 has a fifty-two week low of $39.36 and a fifty-two week high of $70.45. The firm has a market capitalization of $32.72 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.29, a PEG ratio of 1.12 and a beta of 0.85.

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Las Vegas Sands news, CEO Patrick Dumont sold 60,165 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $54.75, for a total value of $3,294,033.75. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 511,942 shares in the company, valued at $28,028,824.50. This represents a 10.52% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.55% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Las Vegas Sands

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of LVS. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. grew its position in shares of Las Vegas Sands by 8.4% during the first quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 31,251 shares of the casino operator's stock worth $1,207,000 after acquiring an additional 2,418 shares during the last quarter. Woodline Partners LP grew its position in shares of Las Vegas Sands by 38.9% during the first quarter. Woodline Partners LP now owns 29,032 shares of the casino operator's stock worth $1,122,000 after acquiring an additional 8,132 shares during the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Las Vegas Sands by 91.8% during the second quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,146 shares of the casino operator's stock worth $93,000 after acquiring an additional 1,027 shares during the last quarter. Flow Traders U.S. LLC purchased a new position in shares of Las Vegas Sands during the second quarter worth approximately $414,000. Finally, Cerity Partners LLC grew its position in shares of Las Vegas Sands by 70.0% during the second quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 17,595 shares of the casino operator's stock worth $766,000 after acquiring an additional 7,243 shares during the last quarter. 39.16% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.