denkapparat Operations GmbH Buys New Shares in Boyd Gaming Co. (NYSE:BYD)

denkapparat Operations GmbH purchased a new position in Boyd Gaming Co. (NYSE:BYD) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund purchased 3,722 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $270,000.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in BYD. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA boosted its stake in shares of Boyd Gaming by 9.6% during the fourth quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA now owns 12,811 shares of the company’s stock valued at $929,000 after purchasing an additional 1,120 shares during the period. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Boyd Gaming during the 4th quarter valued at $1,074,000. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Boyd Gaming in the 4th quarter worth $55,553,000. WINTON GROUP Ltd bought a new position in shares of Boyd Gaming during the fourth quarter valued at about $5,687,000. Finally, LPL Financial LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Boyd Gaming by 274.2% during the fourth quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 112,256 shares of the company’s stock worth $8,143,000 after purchasing an additional 82,258 shares during the period. 76.81% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Boyd Gaming Stock Down 2.2 %

BYD stock opened at $66.25 on Friday. The business has a 50 day moving average of $73.73 and a 200 day moving average of $70.90. The firm has a market cap of $5.47 billion, a PE ratio of 10.65, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.46 and a beta of 1.55. Boyd Gaming Co. has a twelve month low of $49.34 and a twelve month high of $80.50. The company has a quick ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.85.

Boyd Gaming (NYSE:BYD) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The company reported $1.96 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.75 by $0.21. Boyd Gaming had a return on equity of 35.97% and a net margin of 14.70%. On average, research analysts forecast that Boyd Gaming Co. will post 6.52 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Boyd Gaming announced that its Board of Directors has approved a share repurchase program on Thursday, December 5th that authorizes the company to repurchase $500.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the company to repurchase up to 7.6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are usually a sign that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Boyd Gaming Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 17th will be paid a $0.18 dividend. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.09%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 17th. This is an increase from Boyd Gaming’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.17. Boyd Gaming’s dividend payout ratio is currently 11.58%.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director William R. Boyd sold 15,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $79.32, for a total value of $1,189,800.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 1,472,970 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $116,835,980.40. This represents a 1.01 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Christine J. Spadafor sold 1,125 shares of Boyd Gaming 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $365,258.56. The trade was a 18.82 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 66,125 shares of company stock worth $5,158,490 over the last 90 days. 27.94% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

BYD has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on Boyd Gaming from $74.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their target price on Boyd Gaming from $74.00 to $82.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, February 7th. Jefferies Financial Group raised Boyd Gaming from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $73.00 to $92.00 in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of Boyd Gaming from $82.00 to $88.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Finally, Morgan Stanley cut shares of Boyd Gaming from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and dropped their target price for the stock from $82.00 to $81.00 in a research report on Monday, February 24th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $95.20.

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.