California Public Employees Retirement System Has $8.83 Million Holdings in Boyd Gaming Co. (NYSE:BYD)

California Public Employees Retirement System lessened its holdings in shares of Boyd Gaming Co. (NYSE:BYD) by 4.0% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 140,997 shares of the company’s stock after selling 5,806 shares during the period. California Public Employees Retirement System’s holdings in Boyd Gaming were worth $8,828,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in BYD. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust grew its position in shares of Boyd Gaming by 105.5% during the 3rd quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 411 shares of the company’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 211 shares in the last quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Boyd Gaming during the 4th quarter worth approximately $30,000. Allworth Financial LP boosted its position in shares of Boyd Gaming by 3,333.3% during the 4th quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 1,030 shares of the company’s stock worth $64,000 after acquiring an additional 1,000 shares in the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. boosted its position in shares of Boyd Gaming by 20,342.9% during the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,431 shares of the company’s stock worth $87,000 after acquiring an additional 1,424 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Boyd Gaming by 37.1% during the 4th quarter. Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC now owns 1,882 shares of the company’s stock worth $118,000 after acquiring an additional 509 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.81% of the company’s stock.

Boyd Gaming Price Performance

BYD stock opened at $54.15 on Friday. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $63.44 and a 200-day moving average price of $61.89. The company has a market capitalization of $5.18 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.72, a PEG ratio of 2.54 and a beta of 1.64. Boyd Gaming Co. has a 52-week low of $52.42 and a 52-week high of $73.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.65, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a current ratio of 0.89.

Boyd Gaming (NYSE:BYD) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 8th. The company reported $1.66 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.43 by $0.23. The firm had revenue of $954.41 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $928.04 million. Boyd Gaming had a net margin of 14.91% and a return on equity of 34.77%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.72 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts expect that Boyd Gaming Co. will post 6.11 EPS for the current year.

Boyd Gaming Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 15th were paid a dividend of $0.17 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 14th. This represents a $0.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.26%. This is an increase from Boyd Gaming’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.16. Boyd Gaming’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 12.21%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

BYD has been the topic of several analyst reports. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Boyd Gaming from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 24th. Barclays reduced their price target on shares of Boyd Gaming from $70.00 to $68.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 26th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on shares of Boyd Gaming from $82.00 to $71.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, April 26th. Argus downgraded shares of Boyd Gaming from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft downgraded shares of Boyd Gaming from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $78.00 to $71.00 in a research note on Friday, April 26th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $72.20.

Insider Activity

In other news, major shareholder William S. Boyd sold 63,464 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $63.12, for a total transaction of $4,005,847.68. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 8,795,449 shares in the company, valued at $555,168,740.88. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. In other news, Director A. Randall Thoman sold 2,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $63.75, for a total transaction of $159,375.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 4,017 shares in the company, valued at $256,083.75. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, major shareholder William S. Boyd sold 63,464 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $63.12, for a total transaction of $4,005,847.68. Following the sale, the insider now owns 8,795,449 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $555,168,740.88. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 582,910 shares of company stock valued at $37,299,461. Insiders own 27.94% of the company’s stock.

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.