62,650 Shares in Boyd Gaming Co. (NYSE:BYD) Acquired by Marshall Wace LLP

Marshall Wace LLP purchased a new stake in Boyd Gaming Co. (NYSE:BYD) in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund purchased 62,650 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,545,000.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. UMB Bank n.a. raised its position in shares of Boyd Gaming by 80.3% in the fourth quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 393 shares of the company’s stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 175 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its stake in Boyd Gaming by 47.4% in the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 460 shares of the company’s stock worth $33,000 after acquiring an additional 148 shares during the last quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB purchased a new stake in shares of Boyd Gaming in the 3rd quarter valued at about $64,000. Golden State Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Boyd Gaming during the 4th quarter valued at about $67,000. Finally, Investment Counsel Co. of Nevada purchased a new position in shares of Boyd Gaming during the fourth quarter worth about $73,000. 76.81% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on BYD shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of Boyd Gaming from $74.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Barclays cut their target price on shares of Boyd Gaming from $78.00 to $73.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on Boyd Gaming from $82.00 to $88.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded Boyd Gaming from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $73.00 to $92.00 in a report on Friday, January 3rd. Finally, StockNews.com cut Boyd Gaming from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 27th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $93.73.

Boyd Gaming Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:BYD opened at $66.06 on Friday. 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 market cap of $5.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.62, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.46 and a beta of 1.31. Boyd Gaming Co. has a 12 month low of $49.34 and a 12 month high of $80.50. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $68.58 and a 200-day moving average price of $71.05.

Boyd Gaming (NYSE:BYD) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 24th. The company reported $1.62 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.55 by $0.07. Boyd Gaming had a return on equity of 35.97% and a net margin of 14.70%. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Boyd Gaming Co. will post 6.52 EPS for the current year.

Boyd Gaming Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 17th were given a dividend of $0.18 per share. This is an increase from Boyd Gaming’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.17. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.09%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 17th. Boyd Gaming’s payout ratio is presently 11.58%.

Insider Transactions at Boyd Gaming

In other news, Chairman Marianne Boyd Johnson sold 50,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $77.68, for a total value of $3,884,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman now owns 1,346,628 shares in the company, valued at $104,606,063.04. This trade represents a 3.58 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Christine J. Spadafor sold 1,125 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.28, for a total value of $84,690.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 4,852 shares in the company, valued at approximately $365,258.56. The trade was a 18.82 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 66,125 shares of company stock valued at $5,158,490. Company insiders own 27.94% of the company’s stock.

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.