Boyd Gaming Co. (NYSE:BYD) Holdings Trimmed by Swiss National Bank

Swiss National Bank trimmed its position in shares of Boyd Gaming Co. (NYSE:BYD) by 2.7% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 135,300 shares of the company’s stock after selling 3,700 shares during the quarter. Swiss National Bank’s holdings in Boyd Gaming were worth $9,815,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in BYD. UMB Bank n.a. grew its position in Boyd Gaming by 80.3% during 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 in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its holdings in shares of Boyd Gaming by 47.4% during the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 460 shares of the company’s stock valued at $33,000 after acquiring an additional 148 shares in the last quarter. Quarry LP grew its holdings in shares of Boyd Gaming by 150.1% during the 3rd quarter. Quarry LP now owns 873 shares of the company’s stock valued at $56,000 after acquiring an additional 524 shares in the last quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB purchased a new position in shares of Boyd Gaming during the 3rd quarter valued at $64,000. Finally, Golden State Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Boyd Gaming during the 4th quarter valued at $67,000. 76.81% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have recently commented on BYD shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on shares of Boyd Gaming from $74.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. JMP Securities restated a “market perform” rating on shares of Boyd Gaming in a report on Friday, February 7th. Truist Financial boosted their price target on shares of Boyd Gaming from $85.00 to $88.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. Mizuho boosted their price target on shares of Boyd Gaming from $79.00 to $86.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, February 7th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of Boyd Gaming from $82.00 to $88.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, February 7th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $95.20.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Christine J. Spadafor sold 1,125 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $75.28, for a total transaction of $84,690.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 4,852 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $365,258.56. This represents a 18.82 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Chairman Marianne Boyd Johnson sold 50,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the chairman now directly owns 1,346,628 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $104,606,063.04. This represents a 3.58 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 66,125 shares of company stock valued at $5,158,490. Insiders own 27.94% of the company’s stock.

Boyd Gaming Stock Up 0.5 %

Boyd Gaming stock opened at $68.09 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $5.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.95, a P/E/G ratio of 4.46 and a beta of 1.55. 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 Co. has a fifty-two week low of $49.34 and a fifty-two week high of $80.50. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $74.27 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $70.62.

Boyd Gaming (NYSE:BYD) last released its earnings results 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, analysts forecast that Boyd Gaming Co. will post 6.52 earnings per share for the current year.

Boyd Gaming Increases Dividend

The company 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 is a positive change from Boyd Gaming’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.17. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 17th. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.06%. Boyd Gaming’s payout ratio is currently 11.58%.

Boyd Gaming announced that its board has authorized a share buyback plan on Thursday, December 5th that allows the company to repurchase $500.00 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the company to buy up to 7.6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are usually an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Boyd Gaming 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.