Treasurer of the State of North Carolina Boosts Holdings in Boyd Gaming Co. (NYSE:BYD)

Treasurer of the State of North Carolina increased its position in Boyd Gaming Co. (NYSE:BYD - Free Report) by 72.6% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 51,778 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 21,780 shares during the quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina owned approximately 0.06% of Boyd Gaming worth $3,756,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Rhumbline Advisers grew its position in shares of Boyd Gaming by 1.0% during the fourth quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 185,714 shares of the company's stock worth $13,472,000 after purchasing an additional 1,797 shares in the last quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Boyd Gaming by 25.3% during the third quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 47,369 shares of the company's stock valued at $3,062,000 after purchasing an additional 9,565 shares during the period. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC increased its stake in shares of Boyd Gaming by 226.5% during the fourth quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 202,824 shares of the company's stock valued at $14,569,000 after buying an additional 140,707 shares during the period. Truist Financial Corp grew its stake in Boyd Gaming by 20.7% during the 4th quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 4,458 shares of the company's stock worth $323,000 after buying an additional 765 shares during the last quarter. Finally, GC Wealth Management RIA LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Boyd Gaming during the fourth quarter worth about $307,000. 76.81% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Boyd Gaming Stock Performance

Boyd Gaming stock traded down $0.17 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $64.65. 661,029 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 978,639. The stock has a market cap of $5.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.39, a P/E/G ratio of 4.46 and a beta of 1.31. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $69.58 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $71.02. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.85, a current ratio of 0.82 and a quick ratio of 0.79. Boyd Gaming Co. has a fifty-two week low of $49.34 and a fifty-two week high of $80.50.

Boyd Gaming (NYSE:BYD - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 6th. The company reported $1.96 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.75 by $0.21. Boyd Gaming had a return on equity of 35.97% and a net margin of 14.70%. On average, research analysts expect that Boyd Gaming Co. will post 6.52 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Boyd Gaming Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 17th were paid a $0.18 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 17th. This is a positive change from Boyd Gaming's previous quarterly dividend of $0.17. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.11%. Boyd Gaming's payout ratio is presently 11.58%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently commented on BYD. JMP Securities reissued a "market perform" rating on shares of Boyd Gaming in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Susquehanna cut their price objective on shares of Boyd Gaming from $77.00 to $75.00 and set a "positive" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday. Mizuho upped their price target on Boyd Gaming from $79.00 to $86.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Boyd Gaming from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $73.00 to $92.00 in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. Finally, Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Boyd Gaming from $74.00 to $78.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Boyd Gaming has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $94.27.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Chairman Marianne Boyd Johnson sold 50,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction 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 sale, the chairman now owns 1,346,628 shares in the company, valued at approximately $104,606,063.04. This represents a 3.58 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Christine J. Spadafor sold 1,125 shares of Boyd Gaming stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $75.28, for a total value of $84,690.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 4,852 shares in the company, valued at $365,258.56. This trade represents a 18.82 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 66,125 shares of company stock worth $5,158,490 in the last quarter. 27.94% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.