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

Las Vegas Sands Corp. (NYSE:LVS) was the recipient of unusually large options trading activity on Thursday. Investors acquired 107,117 call options on the stock. This is an increase of approximately 398% compared to the typical volume of 21,527 call options.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently commented on LVS. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price objective on shares of Las Vegas Sands from $65.00 to $55.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, July 25th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted 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 1st. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on Las Vegas Sands from $50.00 to $55.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Mizuho increased their price target on shares of Las Vegas Sands from $52.00 to $57.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of Las Vegas Sands from $53.00 to $60.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 15th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $57.17.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in LVS. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company grew its position in Las Vegas Sands by 987.0% during 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. Janus Henderson Group PLC raised its position in Las Vegas Sands by 58.6% during the first quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 5,330,023 shares of the casino operator’s stock valued at $275,559,000 after acquiring an additional 1,968,941 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its position in Las Vegas Sands by 15.7% in the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 11,351,573 shares of the casino operator’s stock worth $502,307,000 after purchasing an additional 1,536,754 shares in the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors purchased a new position in shares of Las Vegas Sands during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $72,550,000. Finally, Charles Lim Capital Ltd lifted its stake in shares of Las Vegas Sands by 178.3% in the 2nd quarter. Charles Lim Capital Ltd now owns 1,600,000 shares of the casino operator’s stock valued at $70,800,000 after purchasing an additional 1,025,000 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 39.16% of the company’s stock.

Las Vegas Sands Stock Performance

Shares of LVS stock traded up $0.96 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $52.00. The stock had a trading volume of 2,729,171 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,748,687. The company has a current ratio of 1.58, a quick ratio of 1.57 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.29. Las Vegas Sands has a 1-year low of $36.62 and a 1-year high of $55.65. The firm has a market cap of $38.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.66, a PEG ratio of 1.48 and a beta of 1.12. The business’s fifty day moving average is $44.94 and its 200-day moving average is $44.40.

Las Vegas Sands (NYSE:LVS) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The casino operator reported $0.44 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.53 by ($0.09). The business had revenue of $2.68 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.79 billion. Las Vegas Sands had a return on equity of 44.41% and a net margin of 14.08%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 4.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.55 earnings per share. On average, research analysts forecast that Las Vegas Sands will post 2.45 earnings per share for the current year.

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.