Inceptionr LLC Acquires New Shares in Las Vegas Sands Corp. $LVS

Key Points

• Inceptionr LLC bought a new stake of 23,015 Las Vegas Sands shares in Q3, valued at about $1.24 million.
• Large insider selling: CEO Robert G. Goldstein sold 1,198,650 shares for roughly $79.93 million and major shareholder Miriam Adelson sold 77,991 shares (~$5.27M), with insiders offloading 2,477,991 shares (~$165.3M) over the past 90 days.
• Operational and shareholder updates: LVS beat quarterly estimates (EPS $0.85 vs. $0.77; revenue $3.65B vs. $3.33B) and raised its quarterly dividend to $0.30 (annualized $1.20, ~2.2% yield).

Inceptionr LLC 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 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund bought 23,015 shares of the casino operator's stock, valued at approximately $1,238,000.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Total Investment Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Las Vegas Sands during the 2nd quarter valued at about $25,000. Westside Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in Las Vegas Sands by 48.0% in the third quarter. Westside Investment Management Inc. now owns 512 shares of the casino operator's stock worth $28,000 after buying an additional 166 shares during the last quarter. Root Financial Partners LLC acquired a new position in Las Vegas Sands in the third quarter worth approximately $33,000. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC raised its position in Las Vegas Sands by 549.5% during the third quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 630 shares of the casino operator's stock valued at $35,000 after acquiring an additional 533 shares in the last quarter. Finally, MAI Capital Management raised its position in Las Vegas Sands by 78.4% during the third quarter. MAI Capital Management now owns 710 shares of the casino operator's stock valued at $38,000 after acquiring an additional 312 shares in the last quarter. 39.16% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Robert G. Goldstein sold 1,198,650 shares of Las Vegas Sands stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, December 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $66.68, for a total value of $79,925,982.00. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, major shareholder Miriam Adelson sold 77,991 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the insider directly owned 23,333,441 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,576,407,273.96. This represents a 0.33% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 2,477,991 shares of company stock worth $165,323,554. 1.20% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have commented on the stock. Seaport Research Partners decreased their target price on shares of Las Vegas Sands from $75.00 to $72.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 14th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price target on shares of Las Vegas Sands from $76.00 to $77.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, January 29th. HSBC lifted their price objective on shares of Las Vegas Sands from $67.50 to $73.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, January 29th. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their target price on shares of Las Vegas Sands from $78.00 to $72.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 30th. Finally, Mizuho raised their target price on Las Vegas Sands from $63.00 to $65.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, January 29th. Twelve analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $68.55.

Las Vegas Sands Price Performance

Shares of Las Vegas Sands stock opened at $53.69 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 1.14, a quick ratio of 1.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 7.58. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $58.72 and a 200-day simple moving average of $58.99. The stock has a market capitalization of $36.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.94, a PEG ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 0.88. Las Vegas Sands Corp. has a 1-year low of $30.18 and a 1-year high of $70.45.

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

Las Vegas Sands Increases Dividend

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

About Las Vegas Sands

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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