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

Las Vegas Sands Corp. (NYSE:LVS - Get Free Report) saw some unusual options trading on Tuesday. Traders bought 34,608 put options on the stock. This represents an increase of approximately 38% compared to the typical volume of 25,147 put options.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts recently commented on the company. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price target on Las Vegas Sands from $70.00 to $65.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 18th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on Las Vegas Sands from $61.00 to $62.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 9th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reduced their price target on Las Vegas Sands from $66.00 to $62.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 18th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on Las Vegas Sands from $59.00 to $55.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 18th. Finally, Citigroup boosted their price target on Las Vegas Sands from $74.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 18th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $63.46.

Insider Buying and Selling at Las Vegas Sands

In other Las Vegas Sands news, CEO Robert G. Goldstein sold 100,000 shares of Las Vegas Sands stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $52.06, for a total value of $5,206,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 172,801 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,996,020.06. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 1.20% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in LVS. Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund grew its stake in Las Vegas Sands by 9.5% during the 3rd quarter. Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund now owns 83,903 shares of the casino operator's stock worth $3,846,000 after buying an additional 7,300 shares during the last quarter. Xponance Inc. grew its stake in shares of Las Vegas Sands by 4.8% in the third quarter. Xponance Inc. now owns 78,433 shares of the casino operator's stock worth $3,595,000 after purchasing an additional 3,585 shares in the last quarter. Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. grew its stake in shares of Las Vegas Sands by 76.3% in the third quarter. Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. now owns 10,520 shares of the casino operator's stock worth $482,000 after purchasing an additional 4,554 shares in the last quarter. Stratos Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Las Vegas Sands in the third quarter worth $2,067,000. Finally, KMG Fiduciary Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of Las Vegas Sands by 15.7% in the third quarter. KMG Fiduciary Partners LLC now owns 14,677 shares of the casino operator's stock worth $673,000 after purchasing an additional 1,993 shares in the last quarter. 39.16% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Las Vegas Sands Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE LVS traded down $1.39 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $44.36. The stock had a trading volume of 6,238,944 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,802,739. Las Vegas Sands has a one year low of $43.77 and a one year high of $65.58. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.96, a quick ratio of 1.29 and a current ratio of 1.30. The stock has a market cap of $33.05 billion, a PE ratio of 21.43, a P/E/G ratio of 0.84 and a beta of 1.17. The firm's 50 day moving average price is $50.82 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $49.67.

Las Vegas Sands (NYSE:LVS - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 17th. The casino operator reported $0.75 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.62 by $0.13. The business had revenue of $2.86 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.94 billion. Las Vegas Sands had a return on equity of 42.34% and a net margin of 13.99%. The business's quarterly revenue was up 34.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.28 EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that Las Vegas Sands will post 2.65 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Las Vegas Sands Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, May 7th will be paid a dividend of $0.20 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, May 6th. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.80%. Las Vegas Sands's payout ratio is currently 38.65%.

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.