Arizona State Retirement System Sells 606 Shares of Boyd Gaming Co. (NYSE:BYD)

Arizona State Retirement System trimmed its holdings in shares of Boyd Gaming Co. (NYSE:BYD) by 2.8% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 20,968 shares of the company’s stock after selling 606 shares during the quarter. Arizona State Retirement System’s holdings in Boyd Gaming were worth $1,313,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. LVZ Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Boyd Gaming by 11.0% in the 4th quarter. LVZ Inc. now owns 4,359 shares of the company’s stock valued at $273,000 after purchasing an additional 432 shares during the last quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp boosted its stake in shares of Boyd Gaming by 42.0% in the 4th quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 3,606 shares of the company’s stock valued at $226,000 after purchasing an additional 1,066 shares during the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Boyd Gaming by 20,342.9% in the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,431 shares of the company’s stock valued at $87,000 after purchasing an additional 1,424 shares during the last quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC bought a new stake in shares of Boyd Gaming in the 4th quarter valued at $1,413,000. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Boyd Gaming by 2.1% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 7,980,306 shares of the company’s stock valued at $485,442,000 after purchasing an additional 167,849 shares during the last quarter. 76.81% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on BYD shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of Boyd Gaming from $78.00 to $80.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 9th. Susquehanna reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $75.00 target price (down from $84.00) on shares of Boyd Gaming in a research note on Monday, February 12th. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on shares of Boyd Gaming from $71.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 9th. Mizuho started coverage on shares of Boyd Gaming in a research note on Tuesday, March 26th. They set a “buy” rating and a $80.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Truist Financial increased their target price on shares of Boyd Gaming from $76.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 9th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $76.30.

Boyd Gaming Stock Performance

BYD opened at $64.40 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 0.89, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.65. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $64.44 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $61.84. Boyd Gaming Co. has a 1-year low of $52.42 and a 1-year high of $73.00. The company has a market cap of $6.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.56, a PEG ratio of 3.02 and a beta of 1.60.

Boyd Gaming (NYSE:BYD) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 8th. The company reported $1.66 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.43 by $0.23. Boyd Gaming had a net margin of 16.58% and a return on equity of 36.97%. The firm had revenue of $954.41 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $928.04 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.72 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 3.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts expect that Boyd Gaming Co. will post 6.18 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Boyd Gaming Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.17 per share. This is an increase from Boyd Gaming’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.16. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, March 14th. This represents a $0.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.06%. Boyd Gaming’s dividend payout ratio is presently 11.15%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, VP William R. Boyd sold 50,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.04, for a total value of $3,202,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 1,617,970 shares in the company, valued at $103,614,798.80. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, CEO Keith Smith sold 75,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $63.92, for a total value of $4,794,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 1,119,625 shares in the company, valued at $71,566,430. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, VP William R. Boyd sold 50,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.04, for a total transaction of $3,202,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 1,617,970 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $103,614,798.80. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 582,910 shares of company stock worth $37,299,461. 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.