Boyd Gaming Co. (NYSE:BYD) Shares Sold by American Century Companies Inc.

American Century Companies Inc. reduced its position in shares of Boyd Gaming Co. (NYSE:BYD) by 1.4% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,194,030 shares of the company’s stock after selling 17,103 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. owned approximately 1.35% of Boyd Gaming worth $86,615,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. UMB Bank n.a. grew its stake in shares of Boyd Gaming by 80.3% in the 4th quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 393 shares of the company’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 175 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its holdings in Boyd Gaming by 47.4% during the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 460 shares of the company’s stock worth $33,000 after buying an additional 148 shares in the last quarter. Quarry LP increased its holdings in shares of Boyd Gaming by 150.1% in the third quarter. Quarry LP now owns 873 shares of the company’s stock valued at $56,000 after buying an additional 524 shares in the last quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB bought a new position in shares of Boyd Gaming in the third quarter valued at $64,000. Finally, Golden State Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Boyd Gaming during the 4th quarter valued at $67,000. 76.81% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on BYD. Mizuho boosted their target price on Boyd Gaming from $79.00 to $86.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Susquehanna raised shares of Boyd Gaming from a “neutral” rating to a “positive” rating and reduced their price objective for the company from $79.00 to $77.00 in a research note on Wednesday, March 12th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Boyd Gaming from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. Barclays upped their price target on shares of Boyd Gaming from $74.00 to $78.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of Boyd Gaming from $82.00 to $88.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Boyd Gaming presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $95.20.

Boyd Gaming Stock Up 1.7 %

BYD opened at $69.11 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $5.79 billion, a PE ratio of 11.11, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.46 and a beta of 1.55. The business has a 50-day moving average of $74.22 and a 200-day moving average of $70.83. Boyd Gaming Co. has a fifty-two week low of $49.34 and a fifty-two week high of $80.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.85, a current ratio of 0.82 and a quick ratio of 0.79.

Boyd Gaming (NYSE:BYD) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The company reported $1.96 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.75 by $0.21. Boyd Gaming had a net margin of 14.70% and a return on equity of 35.97%. Equities research analysts forecast that Boyd Gaming Co. will post 6.52 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Boyd Gaming Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 17th will be given a dividend of $0.18 per share. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.04%. This is an increase from Boyd Gaming’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.17. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 17th. Boyd Gaming’s dividend payout ratio is presently 11.58%.

Boyd Gaming announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock repurchase plan on Thursday, December 5th that allows the company to buyback $500.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization allows the company to reacquire up to 7.6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are generally an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling at Boyd Gaming

In related news, Chairman Marianne Boyd Johnson sold 50,000 shares of Boyd Gaming stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $77.68, for a total value of $3,884,000.00. Following the transaction, the chairman now owns 1,346,628 shares in the company, valued at $104,606,063.04. This trade represents a 3.58 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director William R. Boyd sold 15,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $79.32, for a total transaction of $1,189,800.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 1,472,970 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $116,835,980.40. This trade represents a 1.01 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 66,125 shares of company stock worth $5,158,490 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 27.94% of the company’s stock.

About Boyd Gaming

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.