Investors Purchase High Volume of Las Vegas Sands Put Options (NYSE:LVS)

Las Vegas Sands Corp. (NYSE:LVS) saw unusually large options trading activity on Tuesday. Stock investors acquired 34,608 put options on the company. This is an increase of 38% compared to the typical daily volume of 25,147 put options.

Las Vegas Sands Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:LVS opened at $44.55 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $33.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.52, a PEG ratio of 0.83 and a beta of 1.18. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.96, a current ratio of 1.30 and a quick ratio of 1.29. Las Vegas Sands has a 12 month low of $43.77 and a 12 month high of $64.48. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $50.64 and its 200 day moving average price is $49.63.

Las Vegas Sands (NYSE:LVS) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 17th. The casino operator reported $0.75 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.62 by $0.13. The company 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 42.34% and a net margin of 13.99%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 34.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.28 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that Las Vegas Sands will post 2.63 earnings per share 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. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, May 7th will be given a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.80%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, May 6th. Las Vegas Sands’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 38.65%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Robert G. Goldstein sold 100,000 shares of Las Vegas Sands stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $52.06, for a total value of $5,206,000.00. Following the completion of 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 transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 0.91% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Las Vegas Sands

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in LVS. Waldron Private Wealth LLC raised its holdings in shares of Las Vegas Sands by 1.9% in the 4th quarter. Waldron Private Wealth LLC now owns 12,361 shares of the casino operator’s stock worth $608,000 after purchasing an additional 232 shares in the last quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC grew its position in Las Vegas Sands by 1.0% in the fourth quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 28,532 shares of the casino operator’s stock worth $1,404,000 after buying an additional 288 shares during the last quarter. New York Life Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Las Vegas Sands by 0.7% in the third quarter. New York Life Investment Management LLC now owns 47,237 shares of the casino operator’s stock valued at $2,165,000 after buying an additional 306 shares in the last quarter. Czech National Bank lifted its position in shares of Las Vegas Sands by 0.5% during the 1st quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 64,974 shares of the casino operator’s stock valued at $3,359,000 after acquiring an additional 319 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Parallel Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Las Vegas Sands by 54.8% during the 4th quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 1,008 shares of the casino operator’s stock worth $50,000 after acquiring an additional 357 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 39.16% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently issued reports on LVS. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their price objective on Las Vegas Sands from $54.00 to $53.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 18th. Mizuho lowered their price target on shares of Las Vegas Sands from $70.00 to $65.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 18th. Morgan Stanley lifted 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 report on Tuesday, April 9th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased 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 research report on Thursday, April 18th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on Las Vegas Sands from $62.00 to $60.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 18th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $63.46.

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.