Las Vegas Sands Corp. $LVS Shares Acquired by Holocene Advisors LP

Key Points

• Holocene Advisors LP boosted its stake in Las Vegas Sands by 548.6% in Q3, purchasing 554,826 shares to hold 655,960 shares (about 0.10% of the company) worth roughly $35.28 million.
• Other institutions also enlarged positions—Arrowstreet added 4.15 million shares to reach 5.17 million, Vanguard holds 43.07 million shares—and total institutional ownership stands at 39.16%.
• Las Vegas Sands beat quarterly estimates with $0.85 EPS and $3.65 billion revenue (up 26% YoY), and raised its quarterly dividend to $0.30 ($1.20 annualized, ~2.2% yield).

Holocene Advisors LP lifted its stake in shares of Las Vegas Sands Corp. (NYSE:LVS - Free Report) by 548.6% during the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 655,960 shares of the casino operator's stock after purchasing an additional 554,826 shares during the period. Holocene Advisors LP owned approximately 0.10% of Las Vegas Sands worth $35,284,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership raised its holdings in Las Vegas Sands by 410.2% during the 3rd quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 5,167,553 shares of the casino operator's stock worth $277,963,000 after buying an additional 4,154,753 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Las Vegas Sands in the second quarter worth about $134,179,000. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Las Vegas Sands by 4.4% in the second quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 43,072,014 shares of the casino operator's stock worth $1,874,063,000 after buying an additional 1,822,806 shares during the period. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC increased its position in shares of Las Vegas Sands by 43.8% in the third quarter. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC now owns 5,454,013 shares of the casino operator's stock worth $293,371,000 after acquiring an additional 1,660,823 shares in the last quarter. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Las Vegas Sands by 64.5% in the third quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 2,819,128 shares of the casino operator's stock worth $151,641,000 after acquiring an additional 1,105,630 shares in the last quarter. 39.16% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Las Vegas Sands Stock Performance

LVS stock opened at $53.73 on Tuesday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $57.38 and a 200 day simple moving average of $58.91. Las Vegas Sands Corp. has a 52 week low of $30.18 and a 52 week high of $70.45. The stock has a market cap of $36.10 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.96, a P/E/G ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 0.88. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 7.58, a quick ratio of 1.13 and a current ratio of 1.14.

Las Vegas Sands (NYSE:LVS - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 28th. The casino operator reported $0.85 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 firm had revenue of $3.65 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.33 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.54 EPS. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 26.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts anticipate that Las Vegas Sands Corp. will post 2.6 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Las Vegas Sands Increases Dividend

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Las Vegas Sands

In related news, CEO Robert G. Goldstein sold 1,198,650 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, December 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $66.68, for a total transaction of $79,925,982.00. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Company insiders own 1.20% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

LVS has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Seaport Research Partners reduced their price target 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. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Las Vegas Sands from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Saturday, February 14th. Argus cut their target price on shares of Las Vegas Sands from $80.00 to $60.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 30th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on Las Vegas Sands from $67.00 to $68.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Thursday, January 29th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their target price on Las Vegas Sands from $80.00 to $73.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 29th. Twelve equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $68.55.

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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