PNC Financial Services Group Inc. Sells 2,691 Shares of Las Vegas Sands Corp. (NYSE:LVS)

PNC Financial Services Group Inc. lowered its holdings in Las Vegas Sands Corp. (NYSE:LVS) by 9.0% in the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 27,171 shares of the casino operator’s stock after selling 2,691 shares during the period. PNC Financial Services Group Inc.’s holdings in Las Vegas Sands were worth $1,368,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in LVS. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its stake in Las Vegas Sands by 7,647.7% during the 2nd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 443,325 shares of the casino operator’s stock worth $19,617,000 after acquiring an additional 437,603 shares during the period. Meeder Asset Management Inc. lifted its position in Las Vegas Sands by 97.2% during the third quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. now owns 89,743 shares of the casino operator’s stock worth $4,518,000 after purchasing an additional 44,223 shares during the period. Sanctuary Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Las Vegas Sands in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $619,000. Clearbridge Investments LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Las Vegas Sands by 29.9% during the 2nd quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 833,487 shares of the casino operator’s stock worth $36,882,000 after acquiring an additional 191,805 shares during the period. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Las Vegas Sands by 33.3% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 548,072 shares of the casino operator’s stock worth $27,590,000 after acquiring an additional 136,859 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 39.16% of the company’s stock.

Las Vegas Sands Price Performance

Las Vegas Sands stock opened at $50.91 on Wednesday. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $50.14 and its 200 day moving average is $44.90. Las Vegas Sands Corp. has a one year low of $36.62 and a one year high of $55.65. The firm has a market cap of $36.91 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.20, a P/E/G ratio of 1.32 and a beta of 1.11. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.09, a current ratio of 0.90 and a quick ratio of 0.89.

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

Las Vegas Sands Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 13th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, November 5th were paid a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.57%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, November 5th. Las Vegas Sands’s dividend payout ratio is 39.60%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

LVS has been the subject of several research analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted 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 15th. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on shares of Las Vegas Sands from $50.00 to $55.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of Las Vegas Sands from $53.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 1st. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on shares of Las Vegas Sands from $55.00 to $64.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Finally, Mizuho raised their price objective on Las Vegas Sands from $52.00 to $57.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Las Vegas Sands presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $58.00.

Insider Activity at Las Vegas Sands

In other Las Vegas Sands news, CEO Robert G. Goldstein sold 119,221 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $53.73, for a total value of $6,405,744.33. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 84,511 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,540,776.03. This trade represents a 58.52 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 1.20% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.