Jennison Associates LLC Sells 377,825 Shares of Boyd Gaming Co. (NYSE:BYD)

Jennison Associates LLC reduced its position in Boyd Gaming Co. (NYSE:BYD - Free Report) by 68.1% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 176,979 shares of the company's stock after selling 377,825 shares during the period. Jennison Associates LLC owned about 0.18% of Boyd Gaming worth $11,081,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Boyd Gaming by 2.1% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 7,980,306 shares of the company's stock valued at $485,442,000 after buying an additional 167,849 shares during the period. HG Vora Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Boyd Gaming by 12.5% during the 3rd quarter. HG Vora Capital Management LLC now owns 2,250,000 shares of the company's stock valued at $136,868,000 after buying an additional 250,000 shares during the period. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Boyd Gaming by 885.4% during the 3rd quarter. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. now owns 1,657,441 shares of the company's stock valued at $100,822,000 after buying an additional 1,489,240 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. grew its stake in shares of Boyd Gaming by 40.5% during the 3rd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 824,200 shares of the company's stock valued at $50,136,000 after buying an additional 237,525 shares during the period. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its holdings in Boyd Gaming by 0.4% in the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 351,783 shares of the company's stock worth $21,399,000 after buying an additional 1,516 shares in the last quarter. 76.81% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have commented on BYD shares. Truist Financial cut their price objective on shares of Boyd Gaming from $80.00 to $75.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Friday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered shares of Boyd Gaming from an "overweight" rating to a "neutral" rating and cut their target price for the company from $80.00 to $67.00 in a research note on Friday. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered shares of Boyd Gaming from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and cut their target price for the company from $78.00 to $71.00 in a research note on Friday. Susquehanna restated a "neutral" rating and issued a $75.00 target price (down previously from $84.00) on shares of Boyd Gaming in a research note on Monday, February 12th. Finally, Barclays dropped their price objective on shares of Boyd Gaming from $70.00 to $68.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Boyd Gaming presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $72.20.

Insider Buying and Selling at Boyd Gaming

In related news, major shareholder William S. Boyd sold 125,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $63.77, for a total value of $7,971,250.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 9,358,913 shares in the company, valued at approximately $596,817,882.01. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other news, major shareholder William S. Boyd sold 125,000 shares of Boyd Gaming stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $63.77, for a total transaction of $7,971,250.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 9,358,913 shares in the company, valued at $596,817,882.01. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Chairman Marianne Boyd Johnson sold 77,661 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.87, for a total value of $5,037,869.07. Following the transaction, the chairman now directly owns 1,511,433 shares in the company, valued at $98,046,658.71. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 582,910 shares of company stock valued at $37,299,461. 27.94% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Boyd Gaming Price Performance

Shares of Boyd Gaming stock traded down $9.71 on Friday, hitting $53.18. The company had a trading volume of 6,822,882 shares, compared to its average volume of 812,057. The company has a market cap of $5.09 billion, a PE ratio of 8.72, a PEG ratio of 2.98 and a beta of 1.60. 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 current ratio of 0.89 and a quick ratio of 0.85. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $63.98 and a 200-day simple moving average of $62.01.

Boyd Gaming (NYSE:BYD - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 8th. The company reported $1.66 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.43 by $0.23. The company had revenue of $954.41 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $928.04 million. Boyd Gaming had a return on equity of 36.97% and a net margin of 16.58%. The company's quarterly revenue was up 3.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.72 EPS. Research analysts expect that Boyd Gaming Co. will post 6.19 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Boyd Gaming Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 15th. Investors of record on Friday, March 15th were issued a $0.17 dividend. This represents a $0.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.28%. This is a boost from Boyd Gaming's previous quarterly dividend of $0.16. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 14th. Boyd Gaming's payout ratio is presently 11.15%.

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.