Cookson Peirce & Co. Inc. Makes New Investment in Las Vegas Sands Corp. (NYSE:LVS)

Cookson Peirce & Co. Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Las Vegas Sands Corp. (NYSE:LVS) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 10,500 shares of the casino operator’s stock, valued at approximately $539,000.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Keybank National Association OH boosted its position in Las Vegas Sands by 7.4% during the fourth quarter. Keybank National Association OH now owns 9,348 shares of the casino operator’s stock worth $480,000 after purchasing an additional 645 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in Las Vegas Sands by 2.2% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,138,062 shares of the casino operator’s stock worth $109,811,000 after purchasing an additional 46,608 shares in the last quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC boosted its position in Las Vegas Sands by 30.5% during the fourth quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 4,275 shares of the casino operator’s stock worth $220,000 after purchasing an additional 1,000 shares in the last quarter. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. purchased a new position in Las Vegas Sands during the fourth quarter worth approximately $325,000. Finally, Jones Financial Companies Lllp boosted its position in Las Vegas Sands by 31.8% during the fourth quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 7,685 shares of the casino operator’s stock worth $395,000 after purchasing an additional 1,855 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 39.16% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have issued reports on LVS. Citigroup increased their price target on Las Vegas Sands from $64.50 to $67.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Jefferies Financial Group raised Las Vegas Sands from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their target price for the company from $60.00 to $69.00 in a report on Friday, January 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on Las Vegas Sands from $60.00 to $59.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on Las Vegas Sands from $51.00 to $49.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, February 24th. Finally, Macquarie increased their target price on Las Vegas Sands from $57.00 to $58.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $59.42.

Las Vegas Sands Price Performance

NYSE:LVS opened at $46.12 on Thursday. Las Vegas Sands Corp. has a one year low of $36.62 and a one year high of $56.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.35, a quick ratio of 0.73 and a current ratio of 0.74. The stock has a market cap of $33.02 billion, a PE ratio of 23.41, a P/E/G ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 1.07. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $45.61 and a 200 day moving average price of $47.43.

Las Vegas Sands (NYSE:LVS) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The casino operator reported $0.54 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.58 by ($0.04). Las Vegas Sands had a net margin of 12.80% and a return on equity of 45.82%. Equities research analysts expect that Las Vegas Sands Corp. will post 2.6 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Las Vegas Sands Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, February 19th. Investors of record on Monday, February 10th were given a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.17%. This is a positive change from Las Vegas Sands’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 10th. Las Vegas Sands’s dividend payout ratio is presently 50.76%.

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.