Investors Buy Large Volume of Call Options on Las Vegas Sands (NYSE:LVS)

Las Vegas Sands Corp. (NYSE:LVS) was the recipient of some unusual options trading activity on Friday. Traders bought 103,334 call options on the company. This is an increase of 334% compared to the average volume of 23,794 call options.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have issued reports on LVS shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on shares of Las Vegas Sands from $59.00 to $55.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday. Mizuho lowered their price objective on shares of Las Vegas Sands from $70.00 to $65.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday. Barclays reduced their target price on shares of Las Vegas Sands from $60.00 to $59.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of Las Vegas Sands from $61.00 to $62.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 9th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reduced their price objective on shares of Las Vegas Sands from $66.00 to $62.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Las Vegas Sands has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $64.47.

Insider Activity at Las Vegas Sands

In other Las Vegas Sands news, CEO Robert G. Goldstein sold 100,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 172,801 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,996,020.06. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders own 0.91% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Las Vegas Sands

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Headlands Technologies LLC purchased a new stake in Las Vegas Sands in the third quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Western Pacific Wealth Management LP acquired a new stake in shares of Las Vegas Sands in the third quarter worth $29,000. Coppell Advisory Solutions LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Las Vegas Sands in the second quarter worth $29,000. Retirement Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Las Vegas Sands in the fourth quarter worth $31,000. Finally, CNB Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Las Vegas Sands in the third quarter worth $32,000. 39.16% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Las Vegas Sands Stock Performance

Shares of LVS opened at $45.46 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.31, a quick ratio of 1.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.96. The stock has a market cap of $34.15 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.96, a PEG ratio of 0.82 and a beta of 1.16. The company has a 50-day moving average of $52.06 and a two-hundred day moving average of $49.59. Las Vegas Sands has a 12-month low of $43.77 and a 12-month high of $65.58.

Las Vegas Sands (NYSE:LVS) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 17th. The casino operator reported $0.75 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.62 by $0.13. The business had revenue of $2.86 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.94 billion. Las Vegas Sands had a net margin of 13.99% and a return on equity of 41.81%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 34.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.28 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts predict that Las Vegas Sands will post 2.67 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Las Vegas Sands Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, May 7th will be issued a dividend of $0.20 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, May 6th. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.76%. Las Vegas Sands’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 38.65%.

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.