Lecap Asset Management Ltd. Acquires Shares of 11,937 Las Vegas Sands Corp. $LVS

Lecap Asset Management Ltd. acquired a new position in Las Vegas Sands Corp. (NYSE:LVS) during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund acquired 11,937 shares of the casino operator’s stock, valued at approximately $642,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Maple Rock Capital Partners Inc. increased its position in Las Vegas Sands by 124.4% in the second quarter. Maple Rock Capital Partners Inc. now owns 1,003,880 shares of the casino operator’s stock worth $43,679,000 after purchasing an additional 556,440 shares during the period. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted its position in Las Vegas Sands by 7.1% during the 2nd quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 644,286 shares of the casino operator’s stock valued at $28,033,000 after purchasing an additional 42,598 shares during the period. Intech Investment Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Las Vegas Sands in the 2nd quarter valued at about $1,254,000. Pallas Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Las Vegas Sands during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $908,000. Finally, Creative Planning raised its stake in shares of Las Vegas Sands by 10.6% during the second quarter. Creative Planning now owns 49,093 shares of the casino operator’s stock worth $2,136,000 after buying an additional 4,705 shares during the last quarter. 39.16% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, COO Patrick Dumont sold 135,603 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, December 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $67.96, for a total transaction of $9,215,579.88. Following the sale, the chief operating officer directly owned 446,608 shares in the company, valued at $30,351,479.68. This trade represents a 23.29% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, major shareholder Miriam Adelson sold 77,991 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $67.56, for a total transaction of $5,269,071.96. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 23,333,441 shares in the company, valued at $1,576,407,273.96. This represents a 0.33% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last three months, insiders have sold 5,182,053 shares of company stock worth $333,348,399. Company insiders own 1.20% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

LVS has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Las Vegas Sands in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Wells Fargo & Company assumed coverage on Las Vegas Sands in a research report on Tuesday, November 18th. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $66.00 price target on the stock. Citigroup upped their price objective on Las Vegas Sands from $75.50 to $76.75 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, December 11th. Jefferies Financial Group reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $78.00 target price on shares of Las Vegas Sands in a research note on Wednesday, December 24th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on Las Vegas Sands from $60.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 23rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have issued a Buy rating and six have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $68.52.

Las Vegas Sands Stock Performance

Shares of Las Vegas Sands stock opened at $61.86 on Friday. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $65.51 and its 200 day simple moving average is $56.71. The company has a current ratio of 0.89, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 7.42. The company has a market capitalization of $41.83 billion, a PE ratio of 27.99, a PEG ratio of 1.49 and a beta of 0.97. Las Vegas Sands Corp. has a 12 month low of $30.18 and a 12 month high of $70.45.

Las Vegas Sands (NYSE:LVS) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 22nd. The casino operator reported $0.78 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.62 by $0.16. The company had revenue of $3.33 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.04 billion. Las Vegas Sands had a return on equity of 73.14% and a net margin of 12.69%.The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 24.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.44 earnings per share. On average, research analysts predict that Las Vegas Sands Corp. will post 2.6 EPS for the current year.

Las Vegas Sands Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 12th. Investors of record on Tuesday, November 4th were paid a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, November 4th. Las Vegas Sands’s dividend payout ratio is presently 45.25%.

Las Vegas Sands 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.