AdvisorShares Investments LLC Increases Stock Position in Boyd Gaming Co. (NYSE:BYD)

AdvisorShares Investments LLC increased its position in shares of Boyd Gaming Co. (NYSE:BYD - Free Report) by 84.3% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 14,431 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 6,600 shares during the period. AdvisorShares Investments LLC's holdings in Boyd Gaming were worth $1,047,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of BYD. 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 boosted its position in shares of Boyd Gaming by 47.4% during the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 460 shares of the company's stock valued at $33,000 after acquiring an additional 148 shares during the last quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Boyd Gaming during the fourth quarter worth about $67,000. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB bought a new position in shares of Boyd Gaming in the third quarter worth approximately $64,000. Finally, Investment Counsel Co. of Nevada purchased a new stake in shares of Boyd Gaming during the 4th quarter valued at $73,000. 76.81% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

BYD has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. JMP Securities reiterated a "market perform" rating on shares of Boyd Gaming in a report on Friday, February 7th. StockNews.com cut shares of Boyd Gaming from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, February 27th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of Boyd Gaming from $82.00 to $88.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Susquehanna boosted their price target on Boyd Gaming from $75.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock a "positive" rating in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Finally, Mizuho dropped their target price on shares of Boyd Gaming from $86.00 to $83.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $95.07.

Boyd Gaming Stock Up 2.6 %

Boyd Gaming stock traded up $1.77 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $70.94. The stock had a trading volume of 878,560 shares, compared to its average volume of 954,006. Boyd Gaming Co. has a 52 week low of $49.34 and a 52 week high of $80.50. The company has a market cap of $5.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.41, a PEG ratio of 4.46 and a beta of 1.31. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.85, a current ratio of 0.82 and a quick ratio of 0.79. The business's 50 day moving average price is $67.67 and its 200-day moving average price is $71.26.

Boyd Gaming (NYSE:BYD - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The company reported $1.62 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.52 by $0.10. Boyd Gaming had a net margin of 14.70% and a return on equity of 35.97%. The company had revenue of $991.57 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $976.38 million. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.51 earnings per share. Boyd Gaming's revenue was up 3.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Boyd Gaming Co. will post 6.52 EPS for the current year.

Boyd Gaming Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Investors of record on Monday, March 17th were paid a $0.18 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 17th. This is a boost from Boyd Gaming's previous quarterly dividend of $0.17. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.01%. Boyd Gaming's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 11.75%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Boyd Gaming

In related news, Director Christine J. Spadafor sold 1,125 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $75.28, for a total transaction of $84,690.00. Following the transaction, 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 transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, 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 transaction of $3,884,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman now directly owns 1,346,628 shares in the company, valued at $104,606,063.04. This trade represents a 3.58 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 66,125 shares of company stock worth $5,158,490. 27.94% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.