Hedge Funds Are Buying Las Vegas Sands Corp. (LVS)

Las Vegas Sands Corp. (NYSE:LVS) was in 46 hedge funds’ portfolio at the end of the first quarter of 2013. LVS investors should be aware of an increase in enthusiasm from smart money lately. There were 44 hedge funds in our database with LVS positions at the end of the previous quarter.

If you’d ask most investors, hedge funds are assumed to be unimportant, outdated investment vehicles of the past. While there are more than 8000 funds trading at present, we choose to focus on the bigwigs of this club, close to 450 funds. It is estimated that this group has its hands on the majority of the smart money’s total capital, and by monitoring their highest performing picks, we have found a few investment strategies that have historically outperformed the S&P 500 index. Our small-cap hedge fund strategy outperformed the S&P 500 index by 18 percentage points per year for a decade in our back tests, and since we’ve started sharing our picks with our subscribers at the end of August 2012, we have topped the S&P 500 index by 23.3 percentage points in 8 months (explore the details and some picks here).

Equally as important, bullish insider trading activity is another way to parse down the world of equities. Just as you’d expect, there are a variety of reasons for an insider to get rid of shares of his or her company, but only one, very obvious reason why they would behave bullishly. Many academic studies have demonstrated the market-beating potential of this tactic if investors understand where to look (learn more here).

With these “truths” under our belt, let’s take a gander at the latest action surrounding Las Vegas Sands Corp. (NYSE:LVS).

What does the smart money think about Las Vegas Sands Corp. (NYSE:LVS)?

Heading into Q2, a total of 46 of the hedge funds we track were long in this stock, a change of 5% from the previous quarter. With the smart money’s positions undergoing their usual ebb and flow, there exists a select group of notable hedge fund managers who were boosting their stakes meaningfully.

According to our comprehensive database, Rob Citrone’s Discovery Capital Management had the largest position in Las Vegas Sands Corp. (NYSE:LVS), worth close to $298.4 million, accounting for 4% of its total 13F portfolio. Coming in second is Citadel Investment Group, managed by Ken Griffin, which held a $184.2 million position; 0.3% of its 13F portfolio is allocated to the stock. Remaining peers that are bullish include Daniel S. Och’s OZ Management, Donald Chiboucis’s Columbus Circle Investors and John Thaler’s JAT Capital Management.

As one would reasonably expect, key money managers were leading the bulls’ herd. Discovery Capital Management, managed by Rob Citrone, established the largest position in Las Vegas Sands Corp. (NYSE:LVS). Discovery Capital Management had 298.4 million invested in the company at the end of the quarter. Josh Resnick’s Jericho Capital Asset Management also initiated a $46.9 million position during the quarter. The other funds with new positions in the stock are Joe DiMenna’s ZWEIG DIMENNA PARTNERS, Jim Simons’s Renaissance Technologies, and David Keidan’s Buckingham Capital Management.

What have insiders been doing with Las Vegas Sands Corp. (NYSE:LVS)?

Insider buying is best served when the primary stock in question has experienced transactions within the past 180 days. Over the latest 180-day time frame, Las Vegas Sands Corp. (NYSE:LVS) has seen zero unique insiders purchasing, and 4 insider sales (see the details of insider trades here).

Let’s also review hedge fund and insider activity in other stocks similar to Las Vegas Sands Corp. (NYSE:LVS). These stocks are MGM Resorts International (NYSE:MGM), Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. (NYSE:RCL), Wynn Resorts, Limited (NASDAQ:WYNN), Melco Crown Entertainment Ltd (ADR) (NASDAQ:MPEL), and Carnival Corporation (NYSE:CCL). This group of stocks are the members of the resorts & casinos industry and their market caps match LVS’s market cap.