Van ECK Associates Corp Lowers Position in Las Vegas Sands Corp. (NYSE:LVS)

Van ECK Associates Corp lowered its stake in shares of Las Vegas Sands Corp. (NYSE:LVS - Free Report) by 52.0% during the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 46,756 shares of the casino operator's stock after selling 50,559 shares during the quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp's holdings in Las Vegas Sands were worth $2,386,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in LVS. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Las Vegas Sands by 0.6% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 37,107,775 shares of the casino operator's stock worth $1,918,472,000 after acquiring an additional 209,589 shares in the last quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co increased its stake in shares of Las Vegas Sands by 7.8% in the 1st quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co now owns 211,320 shares of the casino operator's stock valued at $10,929,000 after purchasing an additional 15,216 shares during the last quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC increased its stake in shares of Las Vegas Sands by 2.0% in the 1st quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 641,682 shares of the casino operator's stock valued at $33,175,000 after purchasing an additional 12,500 shares during the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its position in shares of Las Vegas Sands by 7,647.7% during the 2nd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 443,325 shares of the casino operator's stock worth $19,617,000 after buying an additional 437,603 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sanctuary Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Las Vegas Sands in the second quarter valued at about $619,000. Institutional investors own 39.16% of the company's stock.

Las Vegas Sands Trading Up 0.5 %

Shares of LVS traded up $0.26 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $50.64. 3,694,820 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 5,792,109. The firm has a market capitalization of $36.72 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.94, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.32 and a beta of 1.11. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.09, a current ratio of 0.90 and a quick ratio of 0.89. Las Vegas Sands Corp. has a fifty-two week low of $36.62 and a fifty-two week high of $55.65. The business has a 50-day moving average of $47.75 and a 200-day moving average of $44.59.

Las Vegas Sands (NYSE:LVS - Get Free Report) last posted 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 return on equity of 44.26% and a net margin of 13.29%. The business had revenue of $2.68 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.79 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.55 earnings per share. The business's revenue was down 4.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts expect that Las Vegas Sands Corp. will post 2.33 EPS for the current year.

Las Vegas Sands Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 13th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, November 5th will be paid a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.58%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, November 5th. Las Vegas Sands's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 39.60%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have recently commented on LVS shares. Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price on shares of Las Vegas Sands from $55.00 to $64.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, October 24th. UBS Group raised their target price on shares of Las Vegas Sands from $49.00 to $50.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on Las Vegas Sands from $53.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 1st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered their target price on Las Vegas Sands from $61.00 to $55.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, July 25th. Finally, Argus lowered Las Vegas Sands from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, August 15th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Las Vegas Sands presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $58.00.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Robert G. Goldstein sold 119,221 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $53.73, for a total value of $6,405,744.33. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 84,511 shares in the company, valued at $4,540,776.03. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Company insiders own 0.91% of the company's stock.

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.