National Pension Service Has $3.68 Million Holdings in Las Vegas Sands Corp. $LVS

National Pension Service grew its holdings in shares of Las Vegas Sands Corp. (NYSE:LVS) by 140.8% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 56,510 shares of the casino operator’s stock after buying an additional 33,046 shares during the period. National Pension Service’s holdings in Las Vegas Sands were worth $3,678,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Grove Bank & Trust acquired a new position in Las Vegas Sands during the fourth quarter worth about $26,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in Las Vegas Sands during the fourth quarter worth about $26,000. Westside Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in Las Vegas Sands by 48.0% during the third quarter. Westside Investment Management Inc. now owns 512 shares of the casino operator’s stock worth $28,000 after acquiring an additional 166 shares in the last quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC raised its stake in Las Vegas Sands by 549.5% during the third quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 630 shares of the casino operator’s stock worth $35,000 after acquiring an additional 533 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Activest Wealth Management raised its stake in Las Vegas Sands by 1,208.0% during the fourth quarter. Activest Wealth Management now owns 654 shares of the casino operator’s stock worth $43,000 after acquiring an additional 604 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 39.16% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Patrick Dumont sold 60,165 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $54.75, for a total value of $3,294,033.75. Following the sale, 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 legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.55% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

LVS has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered their target price on Las Vegas Sands from $77.00 to $73.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 23rd. Weiss Ratings downgraded Las Vegas Sands from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 26th. Citigroup boosted their target price on Las Vegas Sands from $76.75 to $78.50 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, April 13th. Mizuho boosted their target price on Las Vegas Sands from $65.00 to $67.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 23rd. Finally, HSBC boosted their target price on Las Vegas Sands from $73.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 23rd. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $68.28.

Las Vegas Sands Stock Performance

Shares of LVS stock opened at $53.24 on Tuesday. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $53.13 and its 200 day simple moving average is $58.24. Las Vegas Sands Corp. has a one year low of $40.03 and a one year high of $70.45. The stock has a market capitalization of $35.28 billion, a PE ratio of 19.72, a PEG ratio of 1.15 and a beta of 0.81. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.64, a current ratio of 0.92 and a quick ratio of 0.91.

Las Vegas Sands (NYSE:LVS) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, April 22nd. The casino operator reported $0.91 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.76 by $0.15. Las Vegas Sands had a return on equity of 118.27% and a net margin of 13.41%.The business had revenue of $3.59 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.32 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.59 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 25.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts forecast that Las Vegas Sands Corp. will post 3.38 earnings per share for the current year.

Las Vegas Sands Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 13th. Investors of record on Tuesday, May 5th were issued a $0.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, May 5th. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.3%. Las Vegas Sands’s dividend payout ratio is presently 44.44%.

About Las Vegas Sands

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.