Traders Buy High Volume of Call Options on Las Vegas Sands (NYSE:LVS)

Las Vegas Sands Corp. (NYSE:LVS) was the target of unusually large options trading activity on Monday. Traders purchased 33,253 call options on the company. This is an increase of approximately 64% compared to the typical volume of 20,231 call options.

Analyst Ratings Changes

LVS has been the topic of several recent research reports. Susquehanna upped 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. Barclays raised their target price on Las Vegas Sands from $52.00 to $58.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Argus cut Las Vegas Sands from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 15th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on Las Vegas Sands from $53.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 1st. Finally, UBS Group lifted their target price on shares of Las Vegas Sands from $49.00 to $50.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $58.00.

Las Vegas Sands Price Performance

Las Vegas Sands stock opened at $55.17 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.09, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a current ratio of 0.90. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $51.67 and its 200 day moving average price is $45.36. The stock has a market capitalization of $40.00 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.31, a P/E/G ratio of 1.44 and a beta of 1.10. Las Vegas Sands has a 1 year low of $36.62 and a 1 year high of $56.60.

Las Vegas Sands (NYSE:LVS) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The casino operator reported $0.44 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate 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 company had revenue of $2.68 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.79 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.55 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 4.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Las Vegas Sands will post 2.33 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Las Vegas Sands Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 13th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, November 5th were issued a dividend of $0.20 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, November 5th. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.45%. Las Vegas Sands’s payout ratio is currently 39.60%.

Insider Transactions at Las Vegas Sands

In related news, CEO Robert G. Goldstein sold 119,221 shares of Las Vegas Sands stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $53.73, for a total transaction of $6,405,744.33. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 84,511 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,540,776.03. The trade was a 58.52 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Robert G. Goldstein sold 60,187 shares of the 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 203,732 shares of company stock worth $10,861,707. Company insiders own 0.91% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Las Vegas Sands

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its holdings in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 437,603 shares during the last quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. boosted its stake 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 buying an additional 44,223 shares during the last quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company grew its holdings in 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 valued at $283,284,000 after buying an additional 77,807 shares in the last quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Las Vegas Sands in the 2nd quarter valued at $619,000. Finally, Clearbridge Investments LLC increased its stake in shares of Las Vegas Sands by 29.9% in 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 last quarter. Hedge funds and other 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.