Boyd Gaming Co. (NYSE:BYD) Shares Sold by Xponance Inc.

Xponance Inc. reduced its holdings in shares of Boyd Gaming Co. (NYSE:BYD) by 2.4% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 8,474 shares of the company’s stock after selling 209 shares during the quarter. Xponance Inc.’s holdings in Boyd Gaming were worth $531,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Oak Thistle LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Boyd Gaming in the 3rd quarter valued at about $805,000. Linden Thomas Advisory Services LLC increased its holdings in Boyd Gaming by 12.3% in the third quarter. Linden Thomas Advisory Services LLC now owns 12,738 shares of the company’s stock valued at $775,000 after buying an additional 1,392 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James & Associates raised its stake in Boyd Gaming by 17.6% during the third quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 115,605 shares of the company’s stock valued at $7,032,000 after buying an additional 17,321 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. bought a new position in Boyd Gaming during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $1,898,000. Finally, Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank grew its position in shares of Boyd Gaming by 13.5% in the 3rd quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 15,073 shares of the company’s stock worth $917,000 after acquiring an additional 1,795 shares in the last quarter. 76.81% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Boyd Gaming Stock Performance

BYD opened at $53.18 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $5.09 billion, a PE ratio of 8.72, a P/E/G ratio of 2.98 and a beta of 1.60. The company has a current ratio of 0.89, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.65. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $63.98 and its 200-day simple moving average is $62.01. Boyd Gaming Co. has a 1 year low of $52.42 and a 1 year high of $73.00.

Boyd Gaming (NYSE:BYD) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 8th. The company reported $1.66 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.43 by $0.23. The company had revenue of $954.41 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $928.04 million. Boyd Gaming had a return on equity of 36.97% and a net margin of 16.58%. The company’s revenue was up 3.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.72 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that Boyd Gaming Co. will post 6.19 EPS for the current year.

Boyd Gaming Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 15th were issued a $0.17 dividend. This is a positive change from Boyd Gaming’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.16. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 14th. This represents a $0.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.28%. Boyd Gaming’s dividend payout ratio is presently 11.15%.

Insider Activity at Boyd Gaming

In other news, COO Ted Bogich sold 41,631 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.79, for a total transaction of $2,697,272.49. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 66,803 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,328,166.37. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In other news, Chairman Marianne Boyd Johnson sold 77,661 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.87, for a total transaction of $5,037,869.07. Following the transaction, the chairman now directly owns 1,511,433 shares in the company, valued at $98,046,658.71. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, COO Ted Bogich sold 41,631 shares of Boyd Gaming stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.79, for a total value of $2,697,272.49. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 66,803 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,328,166.37. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 582,910 shares of company stock valued at $37,299,461 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 27.94% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently issued reports on BYD. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered Boyd Gaming from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their price target for the company from $80.00 to $67.00 in a research report on Friday. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on shares of Boyd Gaming from $82.00 to $71.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price target on shares of Boyd Gaming from $71.00 to $65.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Friday. Barclays cut their price objective on shares of Boyd Gaming from $70.00 to $68.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of Boyd Gaming from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 24th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $72.20.

Boyd Gaming Company Profile

Boyd Gaming Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, operates as a multi-jurisdictional gaming company in Nevada, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Ohio, and Pennsylvania. The company operates through Las Vegas Locals, Downtown Las Vegas, Midwest & South, and Online segments.