Las Vegas Sands (NYSE:LVS) Shares Gap Up – Should You Buy?

Las Vegas Sands Corp. (NYSE:LVS) shares gapped up before the market opened on Friday . The stock had previously closed at $49.90, but opened at $51.46. Las Vegas Sands shares last traded at $50.11, with a volume of 388,668 shares traded.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

LVS has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on Las Vegas Sands from $50.00 to $55.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. Mizuho boosted their target price on shares of Las Vegas Sands from $52.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Susquehanna raised their price target on shares of Las Vegas Sands from $51.00 to $59.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of Las Vegas Sands from $53.00 to $60.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 1st. Finally, UBS Group lifted their target price on Las Vegas Sands from $49.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have given 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 $60.25.

Las Vegas Sands Stock Performance

The company has a 50-day moving average of $51.75 and a 200-day moving average of $46.38. The firm has a market capitalization of $36.56 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.96, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 1.10. The company has a current ratio of 0.90, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.09.

Las Vegas Sands (NYSE:LVS) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The casino operator reported $0.44 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.53 by ($0.09). Las Vegas Sands had a return on equity of 44.26% and a net margin of 13.29%. The business had revenue of $2.68 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.79 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.55 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 4.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Las Vegas Sands Corp. will post 2.33 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Las Vegas Sands Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 13th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, November 5th were issued a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.59%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, November 5th. Las Vegas Sands’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 39.60%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Robert G. Goldstein sold 60,187 shares of Las Vegas Sands stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $53.02, for a total transaction of $3,191,114.74. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Robert G. Goldstein sold 24,324 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $52.00, for a total value of $1,264,848.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 60,187 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,129,724. This represents a 28.78 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 203,732 shares of company stock valued at $10,861,707. Insiders own 0.91% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Las Vegas Sands

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in LVS. Meeder Asset Management Inc. grew its position in Las Vegas Sands by 97.2% in the 3rd quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. now owns 89,743 shares of the casino operator’s stock valued at $4,518,000 after buying an additional 44,223 shares in the last quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company lifted its stake in shares of Las Vegas Sands by 1.4% in 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 period. Sanctuary Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Las Vegas Sands during the second quarter worth approximately $619,000. Clearbridge Investments LLC lifted its position in Las Vegas Sands by 29.9% in the second quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 833,487 shares of the casino operator’s stock worth $36,882,000 after purchasing an additional 191,805 shares during the period. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Las Vegas Sands by 33.3% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 548,072 shares of the casino operator’s stock worth $27,590,000 after buying an additional 136,859 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 39.16% of the company’s stock.

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.