On June 11, 2023, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) reported that The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company lowered its stake in shares of Las Vegas Sands Corp. (NYSE:LVS) by a staggering 63.1% during the fourth quarter of the previous year. According to this most recent disclosure, the institutional investor only held 239,818 shares in the casino operator’s stock after selling 410,549 shares during the period. This means that The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company’s holdings in Las Vegas Sands were worth $11,528,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.
Las Vegas Sands Corp., a company engaged in developing destination properties across Macao and Singapore geographical segments, has not been impervious to market fluctuations like many companies worldwide have also faced since the pandemic’s inception. Shares of Las Vegas Sands stock opened at a price of $58.48 on Friday and continued to fluctuate over time around its 50-day moving average price is $59.27 and its 200-day moving average price is $55.26.
Furthermore, it bears mentioning that Las Vegas Sands Corp.’s outstanding performance delivered a week before this report was published saw fit when LVS recorded better-than-expected first-quarter earnings due to robust growth witnessed across markets that they operate in such as China and Singapore together contributing over $800 million even amidst COVID-19 vaccine rollouts being sluggish globally.
With a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.65 and quick ratios for both current assets and liabilities being healthy with figures standing at 1.78 and 1.79 respectively make for an interesting picture highlighting good balance sheet management by Las Vegas Sands Corp.
In conclusion, while some may view The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company’s decision as one indicating dwindling interests amongst investors in Las Vegas Sands Corp., given Las Vegas Sands’ history and past track record aligning with their ability to bounce back from economic downturns impacting the industry; it’ll be interesting to watch how this news shapes up LVS’s performances in the future.
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Institutional Investors Increase Stakes in Las Vegas Sands Despite Analyst Divergence on Future Growth
Las Vegas Sands Corp. continues to remain a popular choice among large investors, with several of them making changes to their positions in the company during the first quarter of this year. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc., for instance, grew its stake in Las Vegas Sands by 13.9%, earning an additional 5,716 shares and bringing their total ownership of the casino operator’s stock to 46,767 shares valued at $1,818,000. Similarly, American Century Companies Inc. increased its position in Las Vegas Sands by 17.1% and Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc raised its holdings by 6.9%.
Cetera Advisor Networks LLC raised its position significantly higher by 26.7%, acquiring an additional 2,848 shares and owning a total of 13,502 shares worth $525,000 now while PNC Financial Services Group Inc.’s position also rose by 47.6% during the same period after buying an additional 8,711 shares and holding a total of 27,000 shares valued at $1,050,000.
Overall institutional investors own approximately 39.75% of the stock since these recent changes were made by large investors.
Analysts have been focusing on monitoring Las Vegas Sands Corp.’s performance closely recently with varying opinions about its future potential growth and operations in geographical segments such as Macao and Singapore.
Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on Las Vegas Sands from $64.00 to $69.00 along with overweight rating given to the company in a research report issued last month while Citigroup increased their price target from $76.00 to $80.50 assigning a “buy” rating to LVS stocks later that week.
During early May Jefferies Financial Group then downgraded Las Vegas Sands from a “buy” rating to a “hold” projecting fewer gains than previously thought amid speculation about possible gaming licensing issues on their territories. However, Wells Fargo & Company remained buoyant about the company’s fortunes, raising their price target from $65.00 to $68.00 and assigning an “overweight” rating in a research note just days later.
According to Bloomberg.com analysts have given the company a collective “Moderate Buy” rating with an average consensus target price of $68.25.
Las Vegas Sands (NYSE:LVS) reported a better-than-expected 124.8% increase in its revenue after posting an EPS of $0.28 for Q1 during late April while Charles D. Forman, Director of Las Vegas Sands Corp sold 15,000 shares of LVS stocks at an average price of $63.17 on April 28th for a total value of $947,550 bringing the number of owned shares down to 205,984 invested to about $13,012,009.28 as per available filing with SEC.
Despite this recent sale from insiders though; there seem to be no signs that institutional investors will decrease their stakes anytime soon even if opinions do differ among professional analysts covering the casino giant’s operations in Macao and Singapore sectors.
