Poplar Forest Capital LLC Sells 77,648 Shares of Las Vegas Sands Corp. (NYSE:LVS)

Poplar Forest Capital LLC lowered its stake in shares of Las Vegas Sands Corp. (NYSE:LVS) by 15.4% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 427,255 shares of the casino operator’s stock after selling 77,648 shares during the period. Las Vegas Sands accounts for about 3.1% of Poplar Forest Capital LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 20th largest position. Poplar Forest Capital LLC owned about 0.06% of Las Vegas Sands worth $21,025,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Waldron Private Wealth LLC increased its position in Las Vegas Sands by 1.9% in the fourth quarter. Waldron Private Wealth LLC now owns 12,361 shares of the casino operator’s stock worth $608,000 after purchasing an additional 232 shares during the last quarter. New York Life Investment Management LLC increased its position in Las Vegas Sands by 0.7% in the third quarter. New York Life Investment Management LLC now owns 47,237 shares of the casino operator’s stock worth $2,165,000 after purchasing an additional 306 shares during the last quarter. M&T Bank Corp increased its position in Las Vegas Sands by 1.4% in the third quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 29,896 shares of the casino operator’s stock worth $1,370,000 after purchasing an additional 400 shares during the last quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC increased its position in Las Vegas Sands by 150.4% in the fourth quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 681 shares of the casino operator’s stock worth $34,000 after purchasing an additional 409 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Lindbrook Capital LLC increased its position in Las Vegas Sands by 12.7% in the fourth quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC now owns 3,894 shares of the casino operator’s stock worth $192,000 after purchasing an additional 439 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 39.16% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Las Vegas Sands news, CEO Robert G. Goldstein sold 100,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $52.06, for a total value of $5,206,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 172,801 shares in the company, valued at $8,996,020.06. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 1.20% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Las Vegas Sands Stock Down 0.4 %

NYSE:LVS traded down $0.17 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $45.84. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 7,355,006 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,772,131. Las Vegas Sands Corp. has a 1 year low of $43.77 and a 1 year high of $65.58. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $51.57 and a 200-day moving average of $49.66. The firm has a market capitalization of $34.15 billion, a PE ratio of 22.14, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.86 and a beta of 1.16. The company has a quick ratio of 1.30, a current ratio of 1.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.96.

Las Vegas Sands (NYSE:LVS) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 17th. The casino operator reported $0.75 earnings per share 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 during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.94 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.28 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 34.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts forecast that Las Vegas Sands Corp. will post 2.65 earnings per share for the current year.

Las Vegas Sands Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, May 7th will be issued a $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, May 6th. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.75%. Las Vegas Sands’s dividend payout ratio is presently 38.65%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have commented on LVS. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their price objective on shares of Las Vegas Sands from $54.00 to $53.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 18th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft dropped their price objective on shares of Las Vegas Sands from $66.00 to $62.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 18th. Mizuho dropped their price objective on shares of Las Vegas Sands from $70.00 to $65.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 18th. Barclays dropped their price objective on shares of Las Vegas Sands from $60.00 to $59.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 18th. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted 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. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $63.46.

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.