Marshall Wace LLP Invests $4.55 Million in Boyd Gaming Co. (NYSE:BYD)

Marshall Wace LLP bought a new position in shares of Boyd Gaming Co. (NYSE:BYD - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 62,650 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,545,000. Marshall Wace LLP owned approximately 0.07% of Boyd Gaming as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Barclays PLC increased its stake in Boyd Gaming by 23.9% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 167,542 shares of the company's stock valued at $10,831,000 after acquiring an additional 32,332 shares during the last quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB bought a new position in shares of Boyd Gaming in the third quarter worth about $64,000. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Boyd Gaming by 47.4% in the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 460 shares of the company's stock worth $33,000 after acquiring an additional 148 shares during the last quarter. Miracle Mile Advisors LLC bought a new position in Boyd Gaming in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $306,000. Finally, Burney Co. boosted its position in Boyd Gaming by 7.7% in the fourth quarter. Burney Co. now owns 29,598 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,147,000 after buying an additional 2,125 shares in the last quarter. 76.81% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at Boyd Gaming

In related news, Director Christine J. Spadafor sold 1,125 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.28, for a total value of $84,690.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 4,852 shares of the company's stock, valued at $365,258.56. This represents a 18.82 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director William R. Boyd sold 15,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $79.32, for a total value of $1,189,800.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 1,472,970 shares in the company, valued at $116,835,980.40. The trade was a 1.01 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 66,125 shares of company stock valued at $5,158,490. 27.94% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently commented on BYD. Barclays cut their price target on Boyd Gaming from $78.00 to $73.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. StockNews.com cut Boyd Gaming from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, February 27th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of Boyd Gaming from $82.00 to $88.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Susquehanna upped their price objective on shares of Boyd Gaming from $75.00 to $76.00 and gave the company a "positive" rating in a report on Friday. Finally, JMP Securities reaffirmed a "market perform" rating on shares of Boyd Gaming in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $95.07.

Boyd Gaming Stock Performance

Boyd Gaming stock traded up $0.05 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $69.33. The company's stock had a trading volume of 400,044 shares, compared to its average volume of 963,908. The company has a market capitalization of $5.72 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.14, a PEG ratio of 4.46 and a beta of 1.31. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $68.17 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $71.25. Boyd Gaming Co. has a 12-month low of $49.34 and a 12-month high of $80.50. 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 (NYSE:BYD - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The company reported $1.62 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.52 by $0.10. Boyd Gaming had a return on equity of 35.97% and a net margin of 14.70%. The business had revenue of $991.57 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $976.38 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.51 EPS. The company's quarterly revenue was up 3.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts predict that Boyd Gaming Co. will post 6.52 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Boyd Gaming Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 17th were given a dividend of $0.18 per share. This is a positive change from Boyd Gaming's previous quarterly dividend of $0.17. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.04%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 17th. Boyd Gaming's payout ratio is 11.75%.

Boyd Gaming 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.