Ariel Investments LLC Sells 263,072 Shares of Boyd Gaming Corporation $BYD

Ariel Investments LLC decreased its stake in shares of Boyd Gaming Corporation (NYSE:BYD) by 8.5% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,834,739 shares of the company’s stock after selling 263,072 shares during the quarter. Boyd Gaming comprises about 2.5% of Ariel Investments LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 12th biggest holding. Ariel Investments LLC owned about 3.54% of Boyd Gaming worth $221,762,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. grew its stake in shares of Boyd Gaming by 219.8% in the second quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 371 shares of the company’s stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 255 shares in the last quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. raised its position in Boyd Gaming by 56.8% during the first quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 541 shares of the company’s stock worth $36,000 after acquiring an additional 196 shares in the last quarter. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. bought a new stake in Boyd Gaming during the second quarter worth $39,000. Parallel Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Boyd Gaming by 24.5% in the second quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 685 shares of the company’s stock valued at $54,000 after acquiring an additional 135 shares during the last quarter. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC grew its position in shares of Boyd Gaming by 24.2% in the 2nd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 960 shares of the company’s stock valued at $75,000 after acquiring an additional 187 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 76.81% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director William R. Boyd sold 20,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $80.36, for a total transaction of $1,607,200.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 1,960,447 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $157,541,520.92. This trade represents a 1.01% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 21.97% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Boyd Gaming in a report on Monday. Macquarie reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $90.00 price target on shares of Boyd Gaming in a research report on Friday, October 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on Boyd Gaming from $87.00 to $89.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 16th. Citigroup started coverage on Boyd Gaming in a research note on Thursday, November 20th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $86.00 target price for the company. Finally, Mizuho boosted their target price on Boyd Gaming from $89.00 to $99.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, October 24th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and ten have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $89.54.

Boyd Gaming Price Performance

Shares of NYSE BYD opened at $80.26 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $6.27 billion, a P/E ratio of 3.51, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.13 and a beta of 1.24. The business’s 50 day moving average is $81.54 and its 200-day moving average is $81.56. The company has a current ratio of 0.51, a quick ratio of 0.49 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71. Boyd Gaming Corporation has a 1-year low of $58.94 and a 1-year high of $88.49.

Boyd Gaming (NYSE:BYD) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 11th. The company reported $1.35 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. The business had revenue of $707.32 million during the quarter. Boyd Gaming had a return on equity of 34.63% and a net margin of 46.02%. Equities research analysts predict that Boyd Gaming Corporation will post 6.52 earnings per share for the current year.

Boyd Gaming Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 15th. Investors of record on Monday, December 15th will be paid a $0.18 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 15th. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.9%. Boyd Gaming’s dividend payout ratio is 3.15%.

About Boyd Gaming

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.