State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D Has $2.13 Million Stock Holdings in Boyd Gaming Co. (NYSE:BYD)

State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D lessened its holdings in Boyd Gaming Co. (NYSE:BYD) by 11.3% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 29,363 shares of the company’s stock after selling 3,741 shares during the quarter. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D’s holdings in Boyd Gaming were worth $2,130,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the business. State Street Corp lifted its stake in shares of Boyd Gaming by 0.8% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 2,108,672 shares of the company’s stock valued at $136,680,000 after acquiring an additional 17,591 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Boyd Gaming by 3.0% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,153,768 shares of the company’s stock valued at $74,611,000 after acquiring an additional 33,379 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Boyd Gaming by 5.9% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 971,921 shares of the company’s stock valued at $62,835,000 after acquiring an additional 54,128 shares during the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Boyd Gaming by 6,158.8% in the 3rd quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 908,905 shares of the company’s stock valued at $58,761,000 after acquiring an additional 894,383 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Pinnacle Associates Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of Boyd Gaming by 2.4% in the 3rd quarter. Pinnacle Associates Ltd. now owns 679,178 shares of the company’s stock valued at $42,523,000 after acquiring an additional 16,159 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.81% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the company. JMP Securities reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of Boyd Gaming in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Barclays increased their price target on Boyd Gaming from $74.00 to $78.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded Boyd Gaming from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price target for the company from $73.00 to $92.00 in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on Boyd Gaming from $74.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Finally, Mizuho raised their target price on Boyd Gaming from $79.00 to $86.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Seven investment 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 stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $95.00.

Boyd Gaming Stock Performance

BYD stock opened at $76.86 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $74.77 and a 200-day moving average price of $68.94. Boyd Gaming Co. has a 1-year low of $49.34 and a 1-year high of $80.50. The company has a current ratio of 0.82, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.85. The firm has a market cap of $6.79 billion, a PE ratio of 12.36, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.46 and a beta of 1.54.

Boyd Gaming (NYSE:BYD) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 6th. The company reported $1.96 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.75 by $0.21. Boyd Gaming had a return on equity of 35.97% and a net margin of 14.70%. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Boyd Gaming Co. will post 6.52 earnings per share for the current year.

Boyd Gaming Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 17th will be paid a $0.18 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 17th. This is an increase from Boyd Gaming’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.17. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.94%. Boyd Gaming’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 10.93%.

Boyd Gaming declared that its board has initiated a share repurchase plan on Thursday, December 5th that authorizes the company to buyback $500.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the company to buy up to 7.6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are generally a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Activity

In other news, Chairman Marianne Boyd Johnson sold 50,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $77.68, for a total value of $3,884,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman now directly owns 1,346,628 shares in the company, valued at $104,606,063.04. This trade represents a 3.58 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director Christine J. Spadafor sold 660 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $75.68, for a total value of $49,948.80. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 5,977 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $452,339.36. This represents a 9.94 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 65,660 shares of company stock worth $5,123,749 in the last three months. Company insiders own 27.94% of the company’s stock.

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.