Brevan Howard Capital Management LP Acquires 79,372 Shares of Las Vegas Sands Corp. $LVS

Brevan Howard Capital Management LP grew its holdings in shares of Las Vegas Sands Corp. (NYSE:LVS) by 184.9% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 122,297 shares of the casino operator’s stock after buying an additional 79,372 shares during the period. Brevan Howard Capital Management LP’s holdings in Las Vegas Sands were worth $6,578,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Mackenzie Financial Corp lifted its stake in Las Vegas Sands by 0.3% in the third quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 53,945 shares of the casino operator’s stock worth $2,902,000 after acquiring an additional 156 shares during the period. Westside Investment Management Inc. increased its position in Las Vegas Sands by 48.0% during the 3rd quarter. Westside Investment Management Inc. now owns 512 shares of the casino operator’s stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 166 shares during the period. Parallel Advisors LLC increased its position in Las Vegas Sands by 7.8% during the 3rd quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 2,449 shares of the casino operator’s stock valued at $132,000 after purchasing an additional 177 shares during the period. Alps Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in Las Vegas Sands by 2.4% in the 3rd quarter. Alps Advisors Inc. now owns 8,528 shares of the casino operator’s stock worth $459,000 after purchasing an additional 197 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Horizon Kinetics Asset Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Las Vegas Sands by 0.3% in the 2nd quarter. Horizon Kinetics Asset Management LLC now owns 61,993 shares of the casino operator’s stock worth $2,697,000 after purchasing an additional 213 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 39.16% of the company’s stock.

Las Vegas Sands Trading Down 0.0%

NYSE:LVS opened at $53.67 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $36.06 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.94, a PEG ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 0.88. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 7.58, a current ratio of 1.14 and a quick ratio of 1.13. Las Vegas Sands Corp. has a one year low of $30.18 and a one year high of $70.45. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $57.60 and its 200 day simple moving average is $58.92.

Las Vegas Sands (NYSE:LVS) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, January 28th. The casino operator reported $0.85 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 business had revenue of $3.65 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.33 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.54 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 26.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts forecast that Las Vegas Sands Corp. will post 2.6 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Las Vegas Sands Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed 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 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. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.2%. Las Vegas Sands’s dividend payout ratio is 51.28%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

LVS has been the topic of a number of research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of Las Vegas Sands from $70.00 to $71.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 23rd. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their price objective on shares of Las Vegas Sands from $78.00 to $72.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 30th. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price objective on Las Vegas Sands from $80.00 to $73.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 29th. Wall Street Zen lowered Las Vegas Sands from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, February 14th. 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 research note on Thursday, January 29th. Twelve equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $68.55.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Las Vegas Sands news, CEO Robert G. Goldstein sold 1,198,650 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on 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 filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, major shareholder Miriam Adelson sold 77,991 shares of the stock in a transaction on 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 completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 23,333,441 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,576,407,273.96. This represents a 0.33% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold 2,062,502 shares of company stock valued at $137,730,622 in the last quarter. 1.20% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.