Monarch Casino & Resort, Inc. $MCRI Shares Purchased by American Century Companies Inc.

Key Points

• American Century Companies Inc. increased its stake in Monarch Casino & Resort by 10.5%, owning approximately 2.42% of the company, valued at $34.7 million.
• Various institutions, including LPL Financial and Deutsche Bank AG, have significantly increased their holdings in Monarch Casino, with institutional ownership now at 62.37%.
• Analysts have upgraded ratings on Monarch Casino, with price targets rising; the current consensus rating is "Hold" with an average target price of $93.20.

American Century Companies Inc. grew its holdings in Monarch Casino & Resort, Inc. (NASDAQ:MCRI - Free Report) by 10.5% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 446,600 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 42,527 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. owned approximately 2.42% of Monarch Casino & Resort worth $34,723,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the business. LPL Financial LLC boosted its stake in shares of Monarch Casino & Resort by 47.0% during the 4th quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 6,737 shares of the company's stock worth $532,000 after purchasing an additional 2,155 shares during the period. Wells Fargo & Company MN boosted its stake in shares of Monarch Casino & Resort by 13.0% during the 4th quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN now owns 32,026 shares of the company's stock worth $2,527,000 after purchasing an additional 3,675 shares during the period. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Monarch Casino & Resort by 4.1% during the 4th quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 42,284 shares of the company's stock worth $3,336,000 after purchasing an additional 1,647 shares during the period. Bank of Montreal Can purchased a new position in shares of Monarch Casino & Resort during the 4th quarter worth about $202,000. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Monarch Casino & Resort during the 4th quarter worth about $6,118,000. 62.37% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Monarch Casino & Resort Price Performance

MCRI stock traded up $0.95 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $105.02. 17,695 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 110,550. The firm has a market cap of $1.92 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.66 and a beta of 1.56. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $95.60 and its 200-day simple moving average is $87.00. Monarch Casino & Resort, Inc. has a 1-year low of $69.99 and a 1-year high of $113.88.

Monarch Casino & Resort (NASDAQ:MCRI - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, July 16th. The company reported $1.44 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.22 by $0.22. Monarch Casino & Resort had a return on equity of 18.99% and a net margin of 18.70%.The firm had revenue of $136.91 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $129.76 million. On average, research analysts predict that Monarch Casino & Resort, Inc. will post 5.13 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently commented on MCRI. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of Monarch Casino & Resort from an "underweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and boosted their price target for the company from $83.00 to $89.00 in a report on Thursday, July 17th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Monarch Casino & Resort from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Sunday, July 13th. Truist Financial upped their price target on shares of Monarch Casino & Resort from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 16th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus increased their price objective on Monarch Casino & Resort from $81.00 to $92.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, July 17th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Monarch Casino & Resort presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $93.20.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO John Farahi sold 2,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $105.78, for a total transaction of $211,560.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 560,110 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $59,248,435.80. This represents a 0.36% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Craig F. Sullivan sold 12,200 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $105.55, for a total transaction of $1,287,710.00. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 25.52% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

About Monarch Casino & Resort

Monarch Casino & Resort, Inc engages in the ownership and operation of the Atlantis Casino Resort Spa, a hotel and casino facility in Reno, Nevada, and the Monarch Black Hawk Casino in Black Hawk, Colorado. The company was founded in 1993 and is headquartered in Reno, NV.