Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC Sells 77,301 Shares of Las Vegas Sands Corp. (NYSE:LVS)

Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC reduced its stake in Las Vegas Sands Corp. (NYSE:LVS - Free Report) by 5.9% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,239,559 shares of the casino operator's stock after selling 77,301 shares during the period. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC owned approximately 0.17% of Las Vegas Sands worth $62,465,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. CVA Family Office LLC raised its holdings in shares of Las Vegas Sands by 118.8% during the 3rd quarter. CVA Family Office LLC now owns 560 shares of the casino operator's stock valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 304 shares during the period. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Las Vegas Sands during the third quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. lifted its position in shares of Las Vegas Sands by 93.2% during the second quarter. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. now owns 906 shares of the casino operator's stock worth $40,000 after purchasing an additional 437 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its stake in shares of Las Vegas Sands by 40.1% in the third quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 849 shares of the casino operator's stock valued at $43,000 after purchasing an additional 243 shares during the period. Finally, Vestor Capital LLC acquired a new stake in Las Vegas Sands during the 3rd quarter valued at $43,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 39.16% of the company's stock.

Las Vegas Sands Stock Performance

Shares of Las Vegas Sands stock traded up $0.15 on Friday, reaching $53.99. 3,063,325 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,979,887. The company's 50-day moving average is $51.52 and its two-hundred day moving average is $45.25. The firm has a market cap of $39.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.73, a P/E/G ratio of 1.44 and a beta of 1.10. Las Vegas Sands Corp. has a 1-year low of $36.62 and a 1-year high of $55.65. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.09, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a current ratio of 0.90.

Las Vegas Sands (NYSE:LVS - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 23rd. The casino operator reported $0.44 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.53 by ($0.09). Las Vegas Sands had a net margin of 13.29% and a return on equity of 44.26%. The firm had revenue of $2.68 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.79 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.55 EPS. The company's revenue was down 4.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts expect that Las Vegas Sands Corp. will post 2.33 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Las Vegas Sands Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 13th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, November 5th were paid a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.48%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, November 5th. Las Vegas Sands's payout ratio is currently 39.60%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Las Vegas Sands news, CEO Robert G. Goldstein sold 24,324 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $52.00, for a total transaction of $1,264,848.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 60,187 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,129,724. This represents a 28.78 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Robert G. Goldstein sold 60,187 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $53.02, for a total value of $3,191,114.74. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 203,732 shares of company stock valued at $10,861,707 over the last 90 days. 0.91% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

LVS has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Argus cut shares of Las Vegas Sands from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, August 15th. Susquehanna upped their target price on Las Vegas Sands from $51.00 to $59.00 and gave the company a "positive" rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. UBS Group raised their price target on shares of Las Vegas Sands from $49.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price target on shares of Las Vegas Sands from $55.00 to $64.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Finally, Barclays lifted their price target on Las Vegas Sands from $52.00 to $58.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Las Vegas Sands has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $58.00.

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.