Clough Capital Partners L P Buys Shares of 437,172 Las Vegas Sands Corp. $LVS

Key Points

• Clough Capital Partners L P bought a new stake of 437,172 shares of Las Vegas Sands (NYSE:LVS) in Q3, valued at about $23.52 million and representing roughly 0.06% of LVS and 2.1% of Clough's portfolio.
• Las Vegas Sands beat expectations with $0.85 EPS vs $0.77 estimate and $3.65 billion in revenue (up 26% YoY); analysts rate the stock a "Moderate Buy" with an average price target of $68.55.
• Dividend increased amid heavy insider selling: LVS raised its quarterly dividend to $0.30 ($1.20 annually, a 2.2% yield) while insiders have sold about 2,062,502 shares (~$137.7 million) in the past 90 days, including CEO Robert G. Goldstein's sale of ~1.2M shares.

Clough Capital Partners L P bought a new stake in Las Vegas Sands Corp. (NYSE:LVS - Free Report) during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund bought 437,172 shares of the casino operator's stock, valued at approximately $23,515,000. Las Vegas Sands accounts for approximately 2.1% of Clough Capital Partners L P's investment portfolio, making the stock its 19th largest holding. Clough Capital Partners L P owned approximately 0.06% of Las Vegas Sands at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of LVS. Mackenzie Financial Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Las Vegas Sands by 0.3% during the third quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 53,945 shares of the casino operator's stock worth $2,902,000 after purchasing an additional 156 shares during the period. Westside Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in Las Vegas Sands by 48.0% in the 3rd quarter. Westside Investment Management Inc. now owns 512 shares of the casino operator's stock valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 166 shares during the period. Parallel Advisors LLC raised its position in Las Vegas Sands by 7.8% during the 3rd quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 2,449 shares of the casino operator's stock worth $132,000 after buying an additional 177 shares during the last quarter. Alps Advisors Inc. raised its position in Las Vegas Sands by 2.4% during the 3rd quarter. Alps Advisors Inc. now owns 8,528 shares of the casino operator's stock worth $459,000 after buying an additional 197 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Horizon Kinetics Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Las Vegas Sands by 0.3% in the 2nd quarter. Horizon Kinetics Asset Management LLC now owns 61,993 shares of the casino operator's stock worth $2,697,000 after acquiring an additional 213 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 39.16% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

LVS has been the topic of several analyst reports. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their target price on shares of Las Vegas Sands from $75.00 to $72.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 29th. Zacks Research downgraded shares of Las Vegas Sands from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, December 22nd. HSBC lifted their price objective on Las Vegas Sands from $67.50 to $73.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, January 29th. Wall Street Zen cut Las Vegas Sands from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Saturday, February 14th. Finally, Citigroup increased their target price on Las Vegas Sands from $75.50 to $76.75 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, December 11th. Twelve research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $68.55.

Las Vegas Sands Stock Down 0.0%

Shares of NYSE LVS opened at $53.67 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $36.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.94, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 0.88. Las Vegas Sands Corp. has a 52 week low of $30.18 and a 52 week high of $70.45. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $57.60 and a 200 day moving average price of $58.92. The company has a quick ratio of 1.13, a current ratio of 1.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 7.58.

Las Vegas Sands (NYSE:LVS - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, January 28th. The casino operator reported $0.85 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.77 by $0.08. Las Vegas Sands had a net margin of 12.50% and a return on equity of 91.40%. The company had revenue of $3.65 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.33 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.54 earnings per share. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 26.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts anticipate that Las Vegas Sands Corp. will post 2.6 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Las Vegas Sands Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, February 18th. Investors of record on Monday, February 9th were issued a $0.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 9th. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.2%. This is an increase from Las Vegas Sands's previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. Las Vegas Sands's payout ratio is currently 51.28%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, major shareholder Miriam Adelson sold 77,991 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $67.56, for a total value of $5,269,071.96. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 23,333,441 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,576,407,273.96. This trade represents a 0.33% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Robert G. Goldstein sold 1,198,650 shares of Las Vegas Sands stock in a transaction on Wednesday, December 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $66.68, for a total value of $79,925,982.00. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 2,062,502 shares of company stock worth $137,730,622. Insiders own 1.20% of the company's stock.

Las Vegas Sands Company Profile

Las Vegas Sands NYSE: LVS is a global developer and operator of integrated resorts, focused on large-scale properties that combine casino gaming with hotels, convention and exhibition facilities, retail, dining, and entertainment. The company's operations center on developing and managing full-service resort complexes that serve both leisure and business travelers, with emphasis on convention and trade-show business in addition to gaming revenue streams.

The company's portfolio has included prominent properties in North America and Asia, most notably The Venetian Resort in Las Vegas and Marina Bay Sands in Singapore, along with a significant presence in Macau through multiple integrated resorts.

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