William Blair Investment Management LLC Sells 641,688 Shares of Golden Entertainment, Inc. (NASDAQ:GDEN)

William Blair Investment Management LLC lessened its stake in Golden Entertainment, Inc. (NASDAQ:GDEN) by 40.6% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 937,351 shares of the company’s stock after selling 641,688 shares during the quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC owned approximately 3.42% of Golden Entertainment worth $29,620,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of GDEN. Victory Capital Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Golden Entertainment in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $875,000. Empowered Funds LLC raised its holdings in shares of Golden Entertainment by 5.0% in the 3rd quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 8,420 shares of the company’s stock worth $268,000 after purchasing an additional 402 shares during the period. Meeder Asset Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Golden Entertainment in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $42,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in Golden Entertainment by 16.0% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 278,709 shares of the company’s stock valued at $8,860,000 after buying an additional 38,385 shares in the last quarter. Finally, BNP Paribas Financial Markets grew its stake in Golden Entertainment by 7.6% in the 3rd quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 4,500 shares of the company’s stock valued at $143,000 after buying an additional 317 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 70.73% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Terrence Wright sold 16,586 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, December 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $31.26, for a total value of $518,478.36. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 61,616 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,926,116.16. The trade was a 21.21 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 29.10% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

GDEN has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. StockNews.com lowered shares of Golden Entertainment from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, February 28th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price objective on shares of Golden Entertainment from $31.00 to $32.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. Macquarie reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $40.00 price objective on shares of Golden Entertainment in a research note on Friday, February 28th. JMP Securities reiterated a “market outperform” rating and issued a $36.00 price objective on shares of Golden Entertainment in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company assumed coverage on shares of Golden Entertainment in a research note on Monday, December 16th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $38.00 price objective for the company. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $36.86.

Golden Entertainment Stock Down 0.3 %

GDEN opened at $27.18 on Wednesday. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $31.44 and a 200-day moving average price of $31.66. The firm has a market capitalization of $720.57 million, a P/E ratio of 21.92 and a beta of 2.29. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.75, a current ratio of 1.11 and a quick ratio of 1.03. Golden Entertainment, Inc. has a one year low of $25.17 and a one year high of $36.92.

Golden Entertainment Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 2nd. Investors of record on Friday, March 21st will be given a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 21st. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.68%. Golden Entertainment’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 59.88%.

Golden Entertainment Profile

Golden Entertainment, Inc owns and operates a diversified entertainment platform in the United States. The company operates through four segments; Nevada Casino Resorts, Nevada Locals Casinos, Nevada Taverns, and Distributed Gaming. It also operates casino, casino resorts, and taverns; and slot machines in third party non-casino locations.