Moody National Bank Trust Division Lowers Stake in Las Vegas Sands Corp. (NYSE:LVS)

Moody National Bank Trust Division lowered its stake in shares of Las Vegas Sands Corp. (NYSE:LVS) by 32.4% in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 3,969 shares of the casino operator’s stock after selling 1,900 shares during the period. Moody National Bank Trust Division’s holdings in Las Vegas Sands were worth $205,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Las Vegas Sands by 45.3% in the fourth quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 39,726 shares of the casino operator’s stock valued at $1,955,000 after purchasing an additional 12,378 shares during the period. Grayhawk Investment Strategies Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Las Vegas Sands in the fourth quarter valued at $526,000. Accent Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Las Vegas Sands in the fourth quarter valued at $39,000. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Las Vegas Sands by 13.1% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 36,898,186 shares of the casino operator’s stock valued at $1,815,760,000 after purchasing an additional 4,264,043 shares during the period. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Las Vegas Sands by 6.3% in the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 11,263,604 shares of the casino operator’s stock valued at $554,282,000 after purchasing an additional 669,052 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 39.16% of the company’s stock.

Las Vegas Sands Trading Down 0.1 %

Las Vegas Sands stock opened at $44.30 on Thursday. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $45.89 and its 200-day moving average is $49.06. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.96, a quick ratio of 1.29 and a current ratio of 1.30. Las Vegas Sands Corp. has a 1 year low of $42.99 and a 1 year high of $61.25. The company has a market cap of $33.01 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.40, a PEG ratio of 0.81 and a beta of 1.13.

Las Vegas Sands (NYSE:LVS) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 17th. The casino operator reported $0.75 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.62 by $0.13. Las Vegas Sands had a net margin of 13.99% and a return on equity of 42.34%. The company had revenue of $2.86 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.94 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.28 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 34.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts expect that Las Vegas Sands Corp. will post 2.63 earnings per share for the current year.

Las Vegas Sands Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, May 7th were issued a $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 6th. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.81%. Las Vegas Sands’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 38.65%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

LVS has been the subject of several analyst reports. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of Las Vegas Sands from $61.00 to $62.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 9th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reduced their price objective on shares of Las Vegas Sands from $66.00 to $62.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 18th. Barclays reduced their price objective on shares of Las Vegas Sands from $59.00 to $57.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, June 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on shares of Las Vegas Sands from $59.00 to $55.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 18th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Las Vegas Sands from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $63.31.

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.