Gateway Advisory LLC Sells 5,176 Shares of Las Vegas Sands Corp. (NYSE:LVS)

Gateway Advisory LLC decreased its holdings in shares of Las Vegas Sands Corp. (NYSE:LVS) by 54.2% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 4,372 shares of the casino operator’s stock after selling 5,176 shares during the period. Gateway Advisory LLC’s holdings in Las Vegas Sands were worth $254,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS lifted its position in shares of Las Vegas Sands by 0.3% during the 1st quarter. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS now owns 55,712 shares of the casino operator’s stock worth $3,201,000 after buying an additional 169 shares during the period. Westshore Wealth LLC increased its position in shares of Las Vegas Sands by 3.6% during the 1st quarter. Westshore Wealth LLC now owns 4,904 shares of the casino operator’s stock worth $282,000 after purchasing an additional 172 shares in the last quarter. MML Investors Services LLC lifted its holdings in Las Vegas Sands by 1.9% during the 1st quarter. MML Investors Services LLC now owns 9,767 shares of the casino operator’s stock valued at $561,000 after purchasing an additional 185 shares during the last quarter. Scotia Capital Inc. boosted its position in Las Vegas Sands by 3.1% in the second quarter. Scotia Capital Inc. now owns 6,227 shares of the casino operator’s stock valued at $361,000 after buying an additional 186 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Czech National Bank grew its stake in Las Vegas Sands by 0.5% during the second quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 38,897 shares of the casino operator’s stock worth $2,256,000 after buying an additional 196 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 39.16% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have recently commented on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on Las Vegas Sands from $71.00 to $64.00 in a report on Tuesday, September 26th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on Las Vegas Sands from $69.00 to $70.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 19th. StockNews.com initiated coverage on shares of Las Vegas Sands in a research report on Thursday, October 5th. They set a “hold” rating on the stock. Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on shares of Las Vegas Sands from $68.00 to $64.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, October 13th. Finally, UBS Group upped their target price on shares of Las Vegas Sands from $71.00 to $77.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $69.68.

Las Vegas Sands Trading Down 0.1 %

Shares of LVS stock traded down $0.04 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $49.08. The company had a trading volume of 3,427,862 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,305,936. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.82, a current ratio of 1.50 and a quick ratio of 1.50. Las Vegas Sands Corp. has a 1-year low of $41.42 and a 1-year high of $65.58. The company has a 50 day moving average of $47.02 and a 200 day moving average of $53.73. The firm has a market cap of $37.52 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 55.77, a P/E/G ratio of 3.65 and a beta of 1.19.

Las Vegas Sands (NYSE:LVS) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, October 18th. The casino operator reported $0.55 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.55. The firm had revenue of $2.80 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.72 billion. Las Vegas Sands had a return on equity of 21.05% and a net margin of 7.81%. The company’s revenue was up 178.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business earned ($0.27) earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Las Vegas Sands Corp. will post 1.91 EPS for the current year.

Las Vegas Sands declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a share repurchase program on Wednesday, October 18th that permits the company to buyback $2.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the casino operator to repurchase up to 5.5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are usually an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Las Vegas Sands Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, November 7th were paid a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.63%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, November 6th. Las Vegas Sands’s payout ratio is presently 90.91%.

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.