Boyd Gaming Co. (NYSE:BYD) Shares Sold by Retirement Systems of Alabama

Retirement Systems of Alabama reduced its position in Boyd Gaming Co. (NYSE:BYD) by 1.4% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 217,331 shares of the company’s stock after selling 2,998 shares during the period. Retirement Systems of Alabama owned about 0.25% of Boyd Gaming worth $15,765,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. State Street Corp increased its position in shares of Boyd Gaming by 0.8% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 2,108,672 shares of the company’s stock valued at $136,680,000 after buying an additional 17,591 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in Boyd Gaming by 3.0% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,153,768 shares of the company’s stock worth $74,611,000 after acquiring an additional 33,379 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Boyd Gaming by 5.9% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 971,921 shares of the company’s stock valued at $62,835,000 after purchasing an additional 54,128 shares in the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Boyd Gaming by 6,158.8% in the third quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 908,905 shares of the company’s stock valued at $58,761,000 after purchasing an additional 894,383 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Pinnacle Associates Ltd. increased its stake in shares of Boyd Gaming by 2.4% during the 3rd quarter. Pinnacle Associates Ltd. now owns 679,178 shares of the company’s stock worth $42,523,000 after purchasing an additional 16,159 shares in the last quarter. 76.81% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on BYD shares. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of Boyd Gaming from $74.00 to $78.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. StockNews.com raised Boyd Gaming from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, October 28th. Mizuho lifted their price objective on Boyd Gaming from $79.00 to $86.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday. Susquehanna increased their target price on Boyd Gaming from $69.00 to $77.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on Boyd Gaming from $82.00 to $88.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $95.00.

Boyd Gaming Stock Down 1.9 %

Shares of Boyd Gaming stock opened at $77.09 on Friday. Boyd Gaming Co. has a twelve month low of $49.34 and a twelve month high of $80.50. The stock has a market cap of $6.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.71, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.28 and a beta of 1.54. 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 company has a fifty day moving average price of $74.10 and a 200 day moving average price of $67.49.

Boyd Gaming (NYSE:BYD) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The company reported $1.96 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.75 by $0.21. Boyd Gaming had a return on equity of 35.10% and a net margin of 13.01%. Equities research analysts forecast that Boyd Gaming Co. will post 6.35 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Boyd Gaming Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 16th were paid a dividend of $0.17 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 16th. This represents a $0.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.88%. Boyd Gaming’s dividend payout ratio is currently 12.98%.

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

Insider Transactions at Boyd Gaming

In other Boyd Gaming news, CEO Keith Smith sold 30,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $72.15, for a total value of $2,164,500.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,101,202 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $79,451,724.30. This represents a 2.65 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Christine J. Spadafor sold 660 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $75.68, for a total value of $49,948.80. Following the transaction, the director now owns 5,977 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $452,339.36. This trade represents a 9.94 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 100,660 shares of company stock valued at $7,307,149. Corporate insiders own 28.40% 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.