Item 5. — MARKET FOR REGISTRANT’S COMMON EQUITY, RELATED STOCKHOLDER MATTERS AND ISSUER PURCHASES OF EQUITY SECURITIES
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Item 5. — MARKET FOR REGISTRANT’S COMMON EQUITY, RELATED STOCKHOLDER MATTERS AND ISSUER PURCHASES OF EQUITY SECURITIES
Market Information
The Company’s common stock trades on the NYSE under the symbol “LVS.” The following table sets forth the high and low sales prices for the common stock on the NYSE for the fiscal quarter indicated:
| High | Low | ||||||
| 2012 | |||||||
| First Quarter | $ | 59.85 | $ | 41.77 | |||
| Second Quarter | $ | 62.09 | $ | 41.28 | |||
| Third Quarter | $ | 47.59 | $ | 34.72 | |||
| Fourth Quarter | $ | 48.10 | $ | 40.28 | |||
| 2013 | |||||||
| First Quarter | $ | 56.83 | $ | 47.99 | |||
| Second Quarter | $ | 60.54 | $ | 47.95 | |||
| Third Quarter | $ | 67.35 | $ | 50.67 | |||
| Fourth Quarter | $ | 79.25 | $ | 63.49 | |||
| 2014 | |||||||
| First Quarter (through February 27, 2014) | $ | 85.86 | $ | 69.15 |
As of February 27, 2014, there were 812,566,265 shares of our common stock outstanding that were held by 457 stockholders of record.
Dividends
Our ability to declare and pay dividends on our common stock is subject to the requirements of Nevada law. In addition, we are a parent company with limited business operations of our own. Accordingly, our primary sources of cash are dividends and distributions with respect to our ownership interest in our subsidiaries that are derived from the earnings and cash flow generated by our operating properties.
Our subsidiaries’ long-term debt arrangements place restrictions on their ability to pay cash dividends to the Company. This may restrict our ability to pay cash dividends other than from cash on hand. See “Item 7 — Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations — Restrictions on Distributions” and “Item 8 — Financial Statements and Supplementary Data — Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements — Note 8 — Long-Term Debt.”
Common Stock Dividends
On March 29, June 28, September 27 and December 31, 2013, we paid a dividend of $0.35 per common share as part of a regular cash dividend program. During the year ended December 31, 2013, we recorded $1.15 billion as a distribution against retained earnings (of which $604.2 million related to our Principal Stockholder’s family and the remaining $548.9 million related to all other stockholders).
On March 30, June 29, September 28 and December 28, 2012, we paid a dividend of $0.25 per common share as part of a regular cash dividend program. On December 18, 2012, we paid a special cash dividend of $2.75 per common share. During the year ended December 31, 2012, we recorded $3.09 billion as a distribution against retained earnings (of which $1.62 billion related to our Principal Stockholder’s family and the remaining $1.47 billion related to all other stockholders).
On January 28, 2014, our Board of Directors declared a quarterly dividend of $0.50 per common share (a total estimated to be approximately $409 million) to be paid on March 31, 2014, to shareholders of record on March 21, 2014. We expect this level of dividend to continue quarterly through the remainder of 2014. Our Board of Directors will continually assess the level and appropriateness of any cash dividends.
Preferred Stock Dividends
On February 15, May 16, August 15 and November 15, 2011, we paid a dividend of $2.50 per preferred share, totaling $75.3 million (of which $52.5 million was paid to our Principal Stockholder’s family).
As further described in “Item 8 — Financial Statements and Supplementary Data — Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements — Note 9 — Equity — Preferred Stock and Warrants — Redemption of Preferred Stock,” we redeemed all of the preferred shares outstanding on November 15, 2011.
Recent Sales of Unregistered Securities
There have not been any sales by the Company of equity securities in the last fiscal year that have not been registered under the Securities Act of 1933.
Purchases of Equity Securities by the Issuer
The following table provides information about share repurchases made by the Company of its common stock during the quarter ended December 31, 2013:
| Period | Total Number of Shares Purchased | Weighted Average Price Paid per Share(1) | Total Number of Shares Purchased as Part of a Publicly Announced Program | Approximate Dollar Value of Shares that May Yet Be Purchased Under the Program (in thousands)(2) | ||||||||||
| October 1, 2013 - October 31, 2013 | 1,052,928 | $ | 71.16 | 1,052,928 | $ | 1,578,899 | ||||||||
| November 1, 2013 - November 30, 2013 | 1,059,298 | $ | 70.47 | 1,059,298 | $ | 1,504,246 | ||||||||
| December 1, 2013 - December 31, 2013 | 978,454 | $ | 76.28 | 978,454 | $ | 1,429,609 |
| (1) | Calculated excluding commissions. |
| (2) | On June 5, 2013, the Company announced a stock repurchase program pursuant to which the Company has been authorized to repurchase up to $2.0 billion of its outstanding common stock. As of December 31, 2013, approximately $1.43 billion of shares remained available for repurchase. The stock repurchase program will expire on June 5, 2015. All repurchases under the stock repurchase program are made from time to time at the Company’s discretion in accordance with applicable federal securities laws. All share repurchases of the Company’s common stock have been recorded as treasury shares. |
Performance Graph
The following performance graph compares the performance of our common stock with the performance of the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index and the Dow Jones US Gambling Index, during the five years ended December 31, 2013. The graph plots the changes in value of an initial $100 investment over the indicated time period, assuming all dividends are reinvested. The stock price performance in this graph is not necessarily indicative of future stock price performance.

| Cumulative Total Return | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| 12/31/2008 | 12/31/2009 | 12/31/2010 | 12/31/2011 | 12/31/2012 | 12/31/2013 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Las Vegas Sands Corp. | $ | 100.00 | $ | 251.94 | $ | 774.87 | $ | 720.57 | $ | 844.54 | $ | 1,475.98 | |||||||||||
| S&P 500 | $ | 100.00 | $ | 126.46 | $ | 145.51 | $ | 148.59 | $ | 172.37 | $ | 228.19 | |||||||||||
| Dow Jones US Gambling Index | $ | 100.00 | $ | 155.72 | $ | 269.58 | $ | 250.58 | $ | 276.93 | $ | 475.61 |
The performance graph should not be deemed filed or incorporated by reference into any other Company filing under the Securities Act of 1933 or the Exchange Act of 1934, except to the extent the Company specifically incorporates the performance graph by reference therein.
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