Brevan Howard Capital Management LP Boosts Stock Holdings in Las Vegas Sands Corp. $LVS

Brevan Howard Capital Management LP lifted its position in shares of Las Vegas Sands Corp. (NYSE:LVS) by 184.9% in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 122,297 shares of the casino operator’s stock after buying an additional 79,372 shares during the quarter. Brevan Howard Capital Management LP’s holdings in Las Vegas Sands were worth $6,578,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in LVS. Westside Investment Management Inc. lifted its position 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 acquiring an additional 166 shares in the last quarter. Total Investment Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Las Vegas Sands in the 2nd quarter worth $25,000. Root Financial Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Las Vegas Sands in the third quarter worth $33,000. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 533 shares in the last quarter. Finally, MAI Capital Management lifted its holdings in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 312 shares in the last quarter. 39.16% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Las Vegas Sands Stock Down 0.0%

LVS stock opened at $53.67 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $36.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.94, 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. The business’s 50-day moving average is $57.60 and its two-hundred day moving average is $58.92. Las Vegas Sands Corp. has a fifty-two week low of $30.18 and a fifty-two week high of $70.45.

Las Vegas Sands (NYSE:LVS) last released its quarterly 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. Las Vegas Sands had a return on equity of 91.40% and a net margin of 12.50%.The business had revenue of $3.65 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.33 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.54 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 26.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts forecast 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 announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, February 18th. Investors of record on Monday, February 9th were given a dividend of $0.30 per share. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.2%. This is a positive change from Las Vegas Sands’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 9th. Las Vegas Sands’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 51.28%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Las Vegas Sands news, CEO Robert G. Goldstein sold 1,198,650 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, December 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $66.68, for a total value of $79,925,982.00. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, major shareholder Miriam Adelson sold 77,991 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $67.56, for a total transaction of $5,269,071.96. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 23,333,441 shares in the company, valued at $1,576,407,273.96. The trade was a 0.33% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 2,062,502 shares of company stock valued at $137,730,622. 1.20% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently commented on LVS shares. Wall Street Zen downgraded Las Vegas Sands from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, February 14th. Mizuho raised their price target on shares of Las Vegas Sands from $63.00 to $65.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, January 29th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price target on shares of Las Vegas Sands from $76.00 to $77.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 29th. Barclays set a $64.00 price objective on shares of Las Vegas Sands in a report on Thursday, January 29th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group lowered their price objective 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. Twelve analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $68.55.

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.