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

Las Vegas Sands Corp. (NYSE:LVS) saw unusually large options trading activity on Wednesday. Investors purchased 30,405 call options on the stock. This represents an increase of 47% compared to the average daily volume of 20,661 call options.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have commented on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on shares of Las Vegas Sands from $55.00 to $64.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of Las Vegas Sands from $60.00 to $62.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, December 13th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of Las Vegas Sands from $53.00 to $60.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 1st. Mizuho lifted their target price on shares of Las Vegas Sands from $52.00 to $57.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reiterated an “equal weight” rating and set a $51.00 target price (down from $54.00) on shares of Las Vegas Sands in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Las Vegas Sands presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $59.92.

Las Vegas Sands Price Performance

LVS stock traded down $0.33 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $45.03. The company had a trading volume of 1,158,551 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,227,171. The company has a market capitalization of $32.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.30, a P/E/G ratio of 1.01 and a beta of 1.09. Las Vegas Sands has a 12-month low of $36.62 and a 12-month high of $56.60. The company has a quick ratio of 0.89, a current ratio of 0.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.09. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $50.60 and a 200 day moving average price of $46.66.

Las Vegas Sands (NYSE:LVS) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The casino operator reported $0.44 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.53 by ($0.09). Las Vegas Sands had a return on equity of 44.26% and a net margin of 13.29%. The company had revenue of $2.68 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.79 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.55 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 4.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts anticipate that Las Vegas Sands will post 2.36 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Robert G. Goldstein sold 60,187 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $53.02, for a total value of $3,191,114.74. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Robert G. Goldstein sold 24,324 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $52.00, for a total value of $1,264,848.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 60,187 shares in the company, valued at $3,129,724. The trade was a 28.78 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. 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. Corporate insiders own 1.20% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Las Vegas Sands

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Janus Henderson Group PLC grew its holdings in Las Vegas Sands by 159.6% during the 3rd quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 9,130,486 shares of the casino operator’s stock valued at $459,630,000 after purchasing an additional 5,612,975 shares during the last quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company lifted its position in shares of Las Vegas Sands by 987.0% in the 2nd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 5,549,615 shares of the casino operator’s stock worth $245,570,000 after purchasing an additional 5,039,072 shares during the period. ARGA Investment Management LP lifted its position in shares of Las Vegas Sands by 24.8% in the 3rd quarter. ARGA Investment Management LP now owns 4,924,340 shares of the casino operator’s stock worth $247,891,000 after purchasing an additional 977,636 shares during the period. Suvretta Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Las Vegas Sands in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $24,370,000. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its position in Las Vegas Sands by 30.2% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,085,045 shares of the casino operator’s stock valued at $92,266,000 after acquiring an additional 483,564 shares during the last quarter. 39.16% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.