JPMorgan Chase & Co. Lowers Position in Boyd Gaming Co. (NYSE:BYD)

JPMorgan Chase & Co. trimmed its stake in shares of Boyd Gaming Co. (NYSE:BYD) by 6.0% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 1,458,296 shares of the company’s stock after selling 93,874 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co.’s holdings in Boyd Gaming were worth $94,279,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of BYD. Cetera Trust Company N.A increased its holdings in shares of Boyd Gaming by 5.4% in the third quarter. Cetera Trust Company N.A now owns 3,330 shares of the company’s stock worth $215,000 after purchasing an additional 170 shares during the last quarter. Covestor Ltd increased its stake in Boyd Gaming by 54.9% in the 3rd quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 587 shares of the company’s stock worth $38,000 after acquiring an additional 208 shares during the last quarter. KBC Group NV raised its holdings in shares of Boyd Gaming by 0.9% during the 3rd quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 25,407 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,643,000 after acquiring an additional 232 shares in the last quarter. Cascade Investment Advisors Inc. boosted its position in shares of Boyd Gaming by 1.9% during the 3rd quarter. Cascade Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 20,951 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,354,000 after acquiring an additional 395 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James & Associates grew its holdings in shares of Boyd Gaming by 0.6% in the third quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 67,439 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,360,000 after purchasing an additional 403 shares in the last quarter. 76.81% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO Josh Hirsberg sold 21,549 shares of Boyd Gaming stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $71.43, for a total value of $1,539,245.07. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 438,615 shares in the company, valued at approximately $31,330,269.45. This trade represents a 4.68 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director William R. Boyd sold 25,155 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $69.35, for a total value of $1,744,499.25. Following the sale, the director now owns 1,487,970 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $103,190,719.50. This trade represents a 1.66 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 147,364 shares of company stock worth $10,590,893. Company insiders own 27.94% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

BYD has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on Boyd Gaming from $69.00 to $74.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on Boyd Gaming from $75.00 to $79.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of Boyd Gaming from $74.00 to $78.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Barclays increased their target price on shares of Boyd Gaming from $70.00 to $71.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Finally, Bank of America lifted their price target on shares of Boyd Gaming from $68.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 17th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $91.64.

Boyd Gaming Stock Performance

Boyd Gaming stock opened at $71.83 on Friday. Boyd Gaming Co. has a fifty-two week low of $49.34 and a fifty-two week high of $76.73. The company has a market capitalization of $6.35 billion, a PE ratio of 13.71, a P/E/G ratio of 9.93 and a beta of 1.54. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $72.51 and a 200-day moving average price of $63.98. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.85, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a current ratio of 0.82.

Boyd Gaming announced that its board has approved a stock buyback plan on Thursday, December 5th that permits the company to buyback $500.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization permits the company to purchase up to 7.6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are typically an indication that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Boyd Gaming Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 16th will be issued a $0.17 dividend. This represents a $0.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.95%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 16th. Boyd Gaming’s dividend payout ratio is 12.98%.

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.