Las Vegas Sands Target of Unusually Large Options Trading (NYSE:LVS)

Las Vegas Sands Corp. (NYSE:LVS) was the target of some unusual options trading on Monday. Traders bought 33,253 call options on the company. This is an increase of 64% compared to the average volume of 20,231 call options.

Las Vegas Sands Price Performance

LVS opened at $55.17 on Tuesday. Las Vegas Sands has a 12-month low of $36.62 and a 12-month high of $56.60. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $51.67 and its 200-day simple moving average is $45.36. The company has a market capitalization of $40.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.31, a PEG ratio of 1.44 and a beta of 1.10. The company has a current ratio of 0.90, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.09.

Las Vegas Sands (NYSE:LVS) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The casino operator reported $0.44 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.53 by ($0.09). The business had revenue of $2.68 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.79 billion. Las Vegas Sands had a return on equity of 44.26% and a net margin of 13.29%. Las Vegas Sands’s revenue for the quarter was down 4.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.55 EPS. On average, 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 business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 13th. Investors of record on Tuesday, November 5th were given a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.45%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, November 5th. Las Vegas Sands’s payout ratio is currently 39.60%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Las Vegas Sands

In other Las Vegas Sands news, CEO Robert G. Goldstein sold 119,221 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $53.73, for a total transaction of $6,405,744.33. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 84,511 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,540,776.03. This represents a 58.52 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Robert G. Goldstein sold 60,187 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $53.02, for a total value of $3,191,114.74. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 203,732 shares of company stock valued at $10,861,707 over the last ninety days. 0.91% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Las Vegas Sands

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of LVS. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB acquired a new stake in Las Vegas Sands in the third quarter valued at approximately $26,000. CVA Family Office LLC boosted its position in shares of Las Vegas Sands by 118.8% in the 3rd quarter. CVA Family Office LLC now owns 560 shares of the casino operator’s stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 304 shares in the last quarter. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC acquired a new position in Las Vegas Sands during the 3rd quarter valued at about $34,000. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. increased its position in Las Vegas Sands by 93.2% during the 2nd quarter. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. now owns 906 shares of the casino operator’s stock valued at $40,000 after buying an additional 437 shares in the last quarter. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC raised its stake in Las Vegas Sands by 40.1% in the third quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 849 shares of the casino operator’s stock valued at $43,000 after buying an additional 243 shares during the last quarter. 39.16% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have weighed in on LVS. Susquehanna raised their price target on Las Vegas Sands from $51.00 to $59.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Argus cut shares of Las Vegas Sands from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 15th. Mizuho lifted their price objective on shares of Las Vegas Sands from $52.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Barclays upped their target price on shares of Las Vegas Sands from $52.00 to $58.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on Las Vegas Sands from $53.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 15th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Las Vegas Sands currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $58.00.

Las Vegas Sands Company Profile

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.