Las Vegas Sands (NYSE:LVS) Price Target Raised to $68.00

Las Vegas Sands (NYSE:LVS) had its price target hoisted by Wells Fargo & Company from $67.00 to $68.00 in a report issued on Thursday morning,Benzinga reports. They currently have an equal weight rating on the casino operator’s stock.

Several other research firms also recently weighed in on LVS. Zacks Research downgraded shares of Las Vegas Sands from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, December 22nd. Argus boosted their price target on shares of Las Vegas Sands from $65.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, December 1st. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Las Vegas Sands from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, January 17th. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded shares of Las Vegas Sands from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $64.00 to $80.00 in a research note on Monday, December 15th. Finally, Citigroup upped their target price on Las Vegas Sands from $75.50 to $76.75 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 11th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have issued a Buy rating and six have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Las Vegas Sands presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $68.61.

Las Vegas Sands Stock Performance

Shares of LVS stock opened at $52.75 on Thursday. Las Vegas Sands has a 12-month low of $30.18 and a 12-month high of $70.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 7.42, a current ratio of 0.89 and a quick ratio of 0.88. The firm has a market capitalization of $35.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.54, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.27 and a beta of 0.97. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $63.86 and a 200 day simple moving average of $58.12.

Las Vegas Sands (NYSE:LVS) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 28th. The casino operator reported $0.85 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.77 by $0.08. Las Vegas Sands had a return on equity of 87.01% and a net margin of 12.50%.The company had revenue of $3.65 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.33 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.54 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 26.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Las Vegas Sands will post 2.6 EPS for the current year.

Las Vegas Sands Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, February 18th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 9th will be issued a $0.30 dividend. This is an increase from Las Vegas Sands’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, February 9th. Las Vegas Sands’s dividend payout ratio is currently 42.74%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Robert G. Goldstein sold 1,198,650 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, December 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $66.68, for a total transaction of $79,925,982.00. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director Irwin Chafetz sold 30,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, December 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $69.76, for a total value of $2,092,800.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 70,949 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,949,402.24. This trade represents a 29.72% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold a total of 3,582,053 shares of company stock worth $238,846,399 over the last quarter. 1.20% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Las Vegas Sands

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of LVS. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership boosted its holdings in shares of Las Vegas Sands by 410.2% in the third quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 5,167,553 shares of the casino operator’s stock worth $277,963,000 after buying an additional 4,154,753 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Las Vegas Sands during the second quarter valued at approximately $134,179,000. M&T Bank Corp lifted its position in shares of Las Vegas Sands by 33,102.6% in the 4th quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 3,060,288 shares of the casino operator’s stock valued at $197,463,000 after acquiring an additional 3,051,071 shares in the last quarter. ARGA Investment Management LP boosted its stake 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 purchasing an additional 2,698,398 shares during the period. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in Las Vegas Sands by 4.4% during the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 43,072,014 shares of the casino operator’s stock worth $1,874,063,000 after purchasing an additional 1,822,806 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 39.16% of the company’s stock.

Las Vegas Sands News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting Las Vegas Sands this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Q4 beat on revenue and EPS, driven by record Marina Bay Sands EBITDA — this supports the company’s top-line momentum and underpins analyst upside revisions. Reuters: Quarterly profit rises
• Positive Sentiment: Management declared a 20% higher quarterly dividend ($0.30), raising the yield (~2.3%) and returning cash to shareholders — a tangible near-term support for the stock. Dividend announcement
• Positive Sentiment: Several brokers raised price targets or reiterated bullish ratings after the quarter (Deutsche Bank to $77, HSBC to $73, Macquarie reaffirmed Outperform), signaling analyst conviction in recovery potential. Benzinga: analyst reactions
• Neutral Sentiment: Goldman reduced its target from $80 to $73 but kept a Buy rating; Stifel trimmed its target to $72 while maintaining Buy — these are adjustments to reflect Q4 details but still leave sizable upside in consensus targets. MarketScreener: Goldman adjustment
• Negative Sentiment: Macao EBITDA margins fell meaningfully (reported ~390 bps decline), and management signaled margin recovery is a focus — the margin miss triggered a large sell-off and renewed concern about competitive pressure and market concentration in Macau. Forbes: Macao margin miss
• Negative Sentiment: Press pieces highlight a “Macau problem” and concentration risk — combined coverage (Barron’s, WSJ, Motley Fool) amplified investor selling despite the quarter’s headline beat. Barron’s: Macau problem

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.