Boyd Gaming Co. (NYSE:BYD) Shares Sold by New York State Common Retirement Fund

New York State Common Retirement Fund cut its stake in shares of Boyd Gaming Co. (NYSE:BYD) by 3.7% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 387,698 shares of the company’s stock after selling 14,886 shares during the period. New York State Common Retirement Fund owned approximately 0.44% of Boyd Gaming worth $28,124,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. UMB Bank n.a. increased its position in shares of Boyd Gaming by 80.3% during the fourth quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 393 shares of the company’s stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 175 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its position in shares of Boyd Gaming by 47.4% during the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 460 shares of the company’s stock valued at $33,000 after acquiring an additional 148 shares during the last quarter. Covestor Ltd increased its position in shares of Boyd Gaming by 54.9% during the third quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 587 shares of the company’s stock valued at $38,000 after acquiring an additional 208 shares during the last quarter. Quarry LP increased its position in shares of Boyd Gaming by 150.1% during the third quarter. Quarry LP now owns 873 shares of the company’s stock valued at $56,000 after acquiring an additional 524 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Farther Finance Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Boyd Gaming by 921.8% during the third quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 889 shares of the company’s stock valued at $57,000 after acquiring an additional 802 shares during the last quarter. 76.81% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of Boyd Gaming from $82.00 to $88.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 7th. StockNews.com raised shares of Boyd Gaming from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Argus raised shares of Boyd Gaming from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $90.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. Truist Financial raised their price objective on shares of Boyd Gaming from $85.00 to $88.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. Finally, Susquehanna raised their price objective on shares of Boyd Gaming from $69.00 to $77.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Boyd Gaming presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $95.00.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Boyd Gaming news, Chairman Marianne Boyd Johnson sold 50,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $77.68, for a total transaction of $3,884,000.00. Following the sale, the chairman now owns 1,346,628 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $104,606,063.04. This trade represents a 3.58 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director William R. Boyd sold 15,000 shares of Boyd Gaming stock in a transaction on 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 completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 1,472,970 shares in the company, valued at $116,835,980.40. The trade was a 1.01 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 65,660 shares of company stock valued at $5,123,749. 27.94% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Boyd Gaming Stock Down 0.2 %

Shares of Boyd Gaming stock opened at $79.32 on Friday. Boyd Gaming Co. has a 52-week low of $49.34 and a 52-week high of $80.50. The company has a 50 day moving average of $74.73 and a 200 day moving average of $68.69. The company has a quick ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.85. The company has a market capitalization of $7.01 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.75, a P/E/G ratio of 4.46 and a beta of 1.54.

Boyd Gaming (NYSE:BYD) last released 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 net margin of 14.70% and a return on equity of 35.97%. As a group, research analysts forecast that Boyd Gaming Co. will post 6.52 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Boyd Gaming Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 17th will be issued a dividend of $0.18 per share. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.91%. This is a boost from Boyd Gaming’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.17. Boyd Gaming’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 10.93%.

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

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.