Miracle Mile Advisors LLC Acquires New Holdings in Boyd Gaming Co. (NYSE:BYD)

Miracle Mile Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Boyd Gaming Co. (NYSE:BYD - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor acquired 4,215 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $306,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Altshuler Shaham Ltd purchased a new position in Boyd Gaming during the 2nd quarter valued at about $29,000. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its holdings in Boyd Gaming by 47.4% during the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 460 shares of the company's stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 148 shares during the last quarter. Covestor Ltd raised its holdings 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 period. Quarry LP lifted its position in shares of Boyd Gaming by 150.1% during the 3rd quarter. Quarry LP now owns 873 shares of the company's stock worth $56,000 after purchasing an additional 524 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Farther Finance Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Boyd Gaming by 921.8% during the third quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 889 shares of the company's stock worth $57,000 after buying an additional 802 shares during the last quarter. 76.81% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have issued reports on BYD. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Boyd Gaming from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and boosted their price target for the company from $73.00 to $92.00 in a report on Friday, January 3rd. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on shares of Boyd Gaming from $67.00 to $74.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on shares of Boyd Gaming from $74.00 to $78.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. Mizuho reissued an "outperform" rating and issued a $79.00 target price (up from $78.00) on shares of Boyd Gaming in a report on Friday, October 25th. Finally, JMP Securities reaffirmed a "market perform" rating on shares of Boyd Gaming in a report on Thursday. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Boyd Gaming currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $92.20.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director William R. Boyd sold 25,155 shares of Boyd Gaming stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $69.35, for a total transaction of $1,744,499.25. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 1,487,970 shares of the company's stock, valued at $103,190,719.50. The trade was a 1.66 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Keith Smith sold 40,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $73.49, for a total value of $2,939,600.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,161,202 shares in the company, valued at $85,336,734.98. The trade was a 3.33 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 147,364 shares of company stock valued at $10,590,893 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 28.40% of the company's stock.

Boyd Gaming Trading Up 1.1 %

BYD stock traded up $0.85 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $74.92. The stock had a trading volume of 1,002,673 shares, compared to its average volume of 910,170. The firm has a market cap of $6.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.30, a PEG ratio of 3.95 and a beta of 1.54. Boyd Gaming Co. has a twelve month low of $49.34 and a twelve month high of $76.73. The company has a quick ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.85. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $72.97 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $65.26.

Boyd Gaming Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 16th were given a dividend of $0.17 per share. This represents a $0.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.91%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 16th. Boyd Gaming's dividend payout ratio is 12.98%.

Boyd Gaming announced that its board has authorized a stock buyback program on Thursday, December 5th that permits the company to repurchase $500.00 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the company to repurchase up to 7.6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are typically an indication that the company's board believes its stock is undervalued.

Boyd Gaming Company 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.