Insider Selling: Las Vegas Sands (NYSE:LVS) CEO Sells $1,025,991.36 in Stock

Las Vegas Sands Corp. (NYSE:LVS) CEO Robert Goldstein sold 15,489 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $66.24, for a total value of $1,025,991.36. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link.

Las Vegas Sands Stock Performance

Shares of LVS opened at $66.95 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $45.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.29, a PEG ratio of 1.80 and a beta of 0.97. The company has a quick ratio of 0.88, a current ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 7.42. The business’s 50 day moving average is $61.80 and its two-hundred day moving average is $54.25. Las Vegas Sands Corp. has a 52-week low of $30.18 and a 52-week high of $70.45.

Las Vegas Sands (NYSE:LVS) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 22nd. The casino operator reported $0.78 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.62 by $0.16. The business had revenue of $3.33 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.04 billion. Las Vegas Sands had a net margin of 12.69% and a return on equity of 73.14%. The business’s revenue was up 24.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.44 earnings per share. Analysts forecast that Las Vegas Sands Corp. will post 2.6 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Las Vegas Sands Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 12th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, November 4th were paid a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.5%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, November 4th. Las Vegas Sands’s dividend payout ratio is 45.25%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently commented on LVS. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on Las Vegas Sands from $60.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 23rd. Mizuho increased their target price on Las Vegas Sands from $56.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 23rd. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price target on Las Vegas Sands from $60.00 to $68.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 23rd. Macquarie upped their price target on Las Vegas Sands from $62.00 to $64.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 23rd. Finally, UBS Group raised their price objective on Las Vegas Sands from $67.00 to $68.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, December 8th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have given a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Las Vegas Sands has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $67.52.

Institutional Trading of Las Vegas Sands

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in LVS. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership grew its position in Las Vegas Sands by 410.2% in the 3rd quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 5,167,553 shares of the casino operator’s stock worth $277,963,000 after purchasing an additional 4,154,753 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Las Vegas Sands during the second quarter worth approximately $134,179,000. ARGA Investment Management LP grew its holdings in Las Vegas Sands by 36.8% in the 2nd quarter. ARGA Investment Management LP now owns 10,040,975 shares of the casino operator’s stock worth $436,883,000 after buying an additional 2,698,398 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in Las Vegas Sands by 4.4% in the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 43,072,014 shares of the casino operator’s stock valued at $1,874,063,000 after acquiring an additional 1,822,806 shares during the period. Finally, Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC raised its stake in Las Vegas Sands by 43.8% during the 3rd quarter. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC now owns 5,454,013 shares of the casino operator’s stock valued at $293,371,000 after acquiring an additional 1,660,823 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 39.16% 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.