Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS Has $3.80 Million Holdings in Las Vegas Sands Corp. (NYSE:LVS)

Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS lessened its holdings in Las Vegas Sands Corp. (NYSE:LVS) by 3.8% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 73,998 shares of the casino operator’s stock after selling 2,951 shares during the period. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS’s holdings in Las Vegas Sands were worth $3,801,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the business. Fisher Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Las Vegas Sands by 1.2% in the 4th quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 13,810,351 shares of the casino operator’s stock valued at $709,300,000 after purchasing an additional 160,711 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its position in Las Vegas Sands by 13.5% during the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 11,662,548 shares of the casino operator’s stock worth $598,988,000 after acquiring an additional 1,389,963 shares during the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC lifted its position in Las Vegas Sands by 159.6% during the 3rd quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 9,130,486 shares of the casino operator’s stock worth $459,630,000 after acquiring an additional 5,612,975 shares during the last quarter. ARGA Investment Management LP lifted its position in Las Vegas Sands by 32.0% during the 4th quarter. ARGA Investment Management LP now owns 6,501,382 shares of the casino operator’s stock worth $333,911,000 after acquiring an additional 1,577,042 shares during the last quarter. Finally, The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company lifted its position in Las Vegas Sands by 1.4% during the 3rd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 5,627,422 shares of the casino operator’s stock worth $283,284,000 after acquiring an additional 77,807 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 39.16% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Las Vegas Sands from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $60.00 to $69.00 in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. Morgan Stanley cut their target price on shares of Las Vegas Sands from $51.00 to $49.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, February 24th. Citigroup boosted their target price on shares of Las Vegas Sands from $64.50 to $67.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Barclays cut their target price on shares of Las Vegas Sands from $61.00 to $58.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on shares of Las Vegas Sands from $62.00 to $61.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $59.42.

Las Vegas Sands Stock Performance

NYSE LVS opened at $41.98 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $30.05 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.31, a PEG ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 1.07. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $44.04 and its 200 day simple moving average is $47.80. Las Vegas Sands Corp. has a twelve month low of $36.62 and a twelve month high of $56.61. The company has a quick ratio of 0.73, a current ratio of 0.74 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.35.

Las Vegas Sands (NYSE:LVS) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The casino operator reported $0.54 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.58 by ($0.04). Las Vegas Sands had a net margin of 12.80% and a return on equity of 45.82%. As a group, research 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 firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, February 19th. Investors of record on Monday, February 10th were paid a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 10th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.38%. This is a boost from Las Vegas Sands’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. Las Vegas Sands’s payout ratio is presently 50.76%.

Las Vegas Sands Company Profile

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.