Las Vegas Sands (NYSE:LVS) Lowered to “Buy” Rating by Wall Street Zen

Las Vegas Sands (NYSE:LVS) was downgraded by Wall Street Zen from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report released on Saturday.

LVS has been the subject of a number of other reports. Mizuho boosted their price target on Las Vegas Sands from $56.00 to $63.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company assumed coverage on Las Vegas Sands in a report on Tuesday, November 18th. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $66.00 price objective for the company. Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price on Las Vegas Sands from $60.00 to $68.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 23rd. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on Las Vegas Sands from $59.00 to $63.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 28th. Finally, UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of Las Vegas Sands from $67.00 to $68.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, December 8th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have given a Buy rating and six have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Las Vegas Sands has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $68.52.

Las Vegas Sands Stock Down 0.2%

LVS opened at $66.20 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $63.96 and a 200-day moving average of $55.31. The company has a market capitalization of $44.76 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.95, a P/E/G ratio of 1.80 and a beta of 0.97. Las Vegas Sands has a fifty-two week low of $30.18 and a fifty-two week high of $70.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 7.42, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a current ratio of 0.89.

Las Vegas Sands (NYSE:LVS) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 22nd. The casino operator reported $0.78 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.62 by $0.16. Las Vegas Sands had a net margin of 12.69% and a return on equity of 73.14%. The business had revenue of $3.33 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.04 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.44 earnings per share. Las Vegas Sands’s revenue was up 24.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts expect that Las Vegas Sands will post 2.6 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at Las Vegas Sands

In related news, major shareholder Miriam Adelson sold 77,991 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $67.56, for a total transaction of $5,269,071.96. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 23,333,441 shares in the company, valued at $1,576,407,273.96. This represents a 0.33% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, COO Patrick Dumont sold 135,603 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, December 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $67.96, for a total transaction of $9,215,579.88. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer owned 446,608 shares in the company, valued at $30,351,479.68. This represents a 23.29% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last three months, insiders have sold 5,182,053 shares of company stock valued at $333,348,399. 1.20% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Las Vegas Sands

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. AlphaQuest LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Las Vegas Sands during the first quarter valued at about $153,000. Gabelli Funds LLC boosted its position in Las Vegas Sands by 5.5% during the 1st quarter. Gabelli Funds LLC now owns 19,200 shares of the casino operator’s stock worth $742,000 after buying an additional 1,000 shares during the period. Magnetar Financial LLC acquired a new stake in Las Vegas Sands during the 1st quarter worth approximately $359,000. Vident Advisory LLC bought a new stake in Las Vegas Sands during the 1st quarter worth approximately $2,038,000. Finally, Long Focus Capital Management LLC increased its position in Las Vegas Sands by 13.1% in the 1st quarter. Long Focus Capital Management LLC now owns 303,000 shares of the casino operator’s stock valued at $11,705,000 after acquiring an additional 35,000 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 39.16% of the company’s stock.

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.