CI Investments Inc. Sells 9,429 Shares of Las Vegas Sands Corp. $LVS

CI Investments Inc. reduced its holdings in shares of Las Vegas Sands Corp. (NYSE:LVS) by 52.4% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 8,549 shares of the casino operator’s stock after selling 9,429 shares during the period. CI Investments Inc.’s holdings in Las Vegas Sands were worth $460,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in LVS. Total Investment Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Las Vegas Sands in the 2nd quarter valued at about $25,000. Westside Investment Management Inc. grew 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 purchasing an additional 166 shares during the period. Root Financial Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Las Vegas Sands during the third quarter worth approximately $33,000. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in Las Vegas Sands by 549.5% in the third quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 630 shares of the casino operator’s stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 533 shares in the last quarter. Finally, MAI Capital Management increased its holdings in Las Vegas Sands by 78.4% in the third quarter. MAI Capital Management now owns 710 shares of the casino operator’s stock worth $38,000 after purchasing an additional 312 shares in the last quarter. 39.16% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Las Vegas Sands

In other news, CEO Robert G. Goldstein sold 1,198,650 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, December 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $66.68, for a total value of $79,925,982.00. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, major shareholder Miriam Adelson sold 77,991 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the insider directly owned 23,333,441 shares in the company, valued at $1,576,407,273.96. The trade was a 0.33% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 2,477,991 shares of company stock worth $165,323,554. Company insiders own 1.20% of the company’s stock.

Las Vegas Sands Stock Performance

Shares of LVS opened at $53.69 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $36.07 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.94, a P/E/G ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 0.88. Las Vegas Sands Corp. has a 52 week low of $30.18 and a 52 week high of $70.45. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $58.72 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $58.91. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 7.58, a quick ratio of 1.13 and a current ratio of 1.14.

Las Vegas Sands (NYSE:LVS) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, January 28th. The casino operator reported $0.85 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.77 by $0.08. The company had revenue of $3.65 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.33 billion. Las Vegas Sands had a return on equity of 91.40% and a net margin of 12.50%.The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 26.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.54 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that Las Vegas Sands Corp. will post 2.6 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Las Vegas Sands Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, February 18th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 9th were paid a dividend of $0.30 per share. This is a boost from Las Vegas Sands’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 9th. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.2%. Las Vegas Sands’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 51.28%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

LVS has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price target on Las Vegas Sands from $76.00 to $77.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 29th. Barclays set a $64.00 price objective on shares of Las Vegas Sands in a research note on Thursday, January 29th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of Las Vegas Sands from $70.00 to $71.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 23rd. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their price target on shares of Las Vegas Sands from $80.00 to $73.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 29th. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Las Vegas Sands from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, February 14th. Twelve equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Las Vegas Sands has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $68.55.

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.