Choreo LLC Cuts Holdings in Boyd Gaming Co. (NYSE:BYD)

Choreo LLC decreased its stake in shares of Boyd Gaming Co. (NYSE:BYD) by 2.8% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 29,893 shares of the company’s stock after selling 851 shares during the quarter. Choreo LLC’s holdings in Boyd Gaming were worth $2,164,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of BYD. Victory Capital Management Inc. increased its holdings in Boyd Gaming by 6,158.8% during the 3rd quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 908,905 shares of the company’s stock worth $58,761,000 after purchasing an additional 894,383 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in Boyd Gaming by 4,816.4% during the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 184,560 shares of the company’s stock worth $119,320,000 after purchasing an additional 180,806 shares during the period. Goldentree Asset Management LP purchased a new position in shares of Boyd Gaming in the 3rd quarter valued at about $11,490,000. Weiss Asset Management LP purchased a new position in shares of Boyd Gaming in the 3rd quarter valued at about $7,101,000. Finally, Algert Global LLC increased its holdings in shares of Boyd Gaming by 183.4% in the 3rd quarter. Algert Global LLC now owns 142,003 shares of the company’s stock valued at $9,180,000 after acquiring an additional 91,900 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.81% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently commented on BYD. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price objective on Boyd Gaming from $67.00 to $74.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, October 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on Boyd Gaming from $74.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. Mizuho reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $79.00 price objective (up previously from $78.00) on shares of Boyd Gaming in a report on Friday, October 25th. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded Boyd Gaming from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $73.00 to $92.00 in a report on Friday, January 3rd. Finally, JMP Securities restated a “market perform” rating on shares of Boyd Gaming in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $93.13.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Christine J. Spadafor sold 660 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.68, for a total value of $49,948.80. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 5,977 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $452,339.36. This trade represents a 9.94 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Keith Smith sold 40,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $73.49, for a total value of $2,939,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,161,202 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $85,336,734.98. This represents a 3.33 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 100,660 shares of company stock valued at $7,307,149. 28.40% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Boyd Gaming Stock Up 2.5 %

Boyd Gaming stock opened at $78.43 on Friday. Boyd Gaming Co. has a twelve month low of $49.34 and a twelve month high of $78.63. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $74.03 and a two-hundred day moving average of $67.37. The company has a current ratio of 0.82, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.85. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.93 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.97, a PEG ratio of 4.28 and a beta of 1.54.

Boyd Gaming (NYSE:BYD) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 6th. The company reported $1.96 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.75 by $0.21. Boyd Gaming had a return on equity of 35.10% and a net margin of 13.01%. As a group, research analysts expect that Boyd Gaming Co. will post 6.35 earnings per share for the current year.

Boyd Gaming Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 16th were given a dividend of $0.17 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 16th. This represents a $0.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.87%. Boyd Gaming’s payout ratio is 12.98%.

Boyd Gaming announced that its board has approved a stock repurchase plan on Thursday, December 5th that allows the company to repurchase $500.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the company to repurchase up to 7.6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are generally a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

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.