Las Vegas Sands Sees Unusually High Options Volume (NYSE:LVS)

Las Vegas Sands Corp. (NYSE:LVS) saw unusually large options trading activity on Friday. Stock investors bought 103,334 call options on the stock. This represents an increase of 334% compared to the typical daily volume of 23,794 call options.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related 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 transaction of $5,206,000.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 172,801 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,996,020.06. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders own 0.91% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Las Vegas Sands

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Las Vegas Sands by 13.1% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 36,898,186 shares of the casino operator’s stock valued at $1,815,760,000 after acquiring an additional 4,264,043 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its stake in shares of Las Vegas Sands by 20.8% during the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 31,638,753 shares of the casino operator’s stock worth $1,556,945,000 after purchasing an additional 5,439,735 shares in the last quarter. BlackRock Inc. boosted its position in shares of Las Vegas Sands by 1.4% in the first quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 23,298,767 shares of the casino operator’s stock worth $1,338,514,000 after buying an additional 330,221 shares during the period. State Street Corp grew its stake in shares of Las Vegas Sands by 2.9% in the first quarter. State Street Corp now owns 13,898,679 shares of the casino operator’s stock valued at $540,242,000 after buying an additional 394,616 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Las Vegas Sands by 6.4% during the 4th quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 11,275,127 shares of the casino operator’s stock valued at $554,849,000 after buying an additional 680,575 shares during the period. 39.16% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Las Vegas Sands Trading Down 0.1 %

Shares of LVS traded down $0.05 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $45.83. The company had a trading volume of 3,798,028 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,597,581. Las Vegas Sands has a fifty-two week low of $43.77 and a fifty-two week high of $65.58. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $52.22 and a 200-day simple moving average of $49.60. The stock has a market cap of $34.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.16, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.82 and a beta of 1.16. The company has a current ratio of 1.31, a quick ratio of 1.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.96.

Las Vegas Sands (NYSE:LVS) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, April 17th. The casino operator reported $0.75 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.62 by $0.13. The firm had revenue of $2.86 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.94 billion. Las Vegas Sands had a return on equity of 41.81% and a net margin of 13.99%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 34.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.28 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Las Vegas Sands will post 2.67 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Las Vegas Sands Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Investors 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.75%. Las Vegas Sands’s payout ratio is 38.65%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have weighed in on LVS shares. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their target price on Las Vegas Sands from $54.00 to $53.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft dropped their target price on shares of Las Vegas Sands from $66.00 to $62.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday. Citigroup upped their price target on shares of Las Vegas Sands from $74.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on Las Vegas Sands from $59.00 to $55.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded Las Vegas Sands from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Las Vegas Sands presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $64.47.

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.