William Blair Investment Management LLC Sells 641,688 Shares of Golden Entertainment, Inc. (NASDAQ:GDEN)

William Blair Investment Management LLC cut its holdings in Golden Entertainment, Inc. (NASDAQ:GDEN) by 40.6% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 937,351 shares of the company’s stock after selling 641,688 shares during the period. William Blair Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Golden Entertainment were worth $29,620,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in GDEN. DAVENPORT & Co LLC lifted its stake in Golden Entertainment by 26.6% in the fourth quarter. DAVENPORT & Co LLC now owns 1,293,163 shares of the company’s stock worth $40,864,000 after purchasing an additional 271,782 shares during the last quarter. Systematic Financial Management LP lifted its stake in Golden Entertainment by 24.5% in the third quarter. Systematic Financial Management LP now owns 352,227 shares of the company’s stock worth $11,197,000 after purchasing an additional 69,207 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its stake in Golden Entertainment by 37.6% in the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 241,658 shares of the company’s stock worth $7,636,000 after purchasing an additional 66,061 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in Golden Entertainment by 16.0% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 278,709 shares of the company’s stock worth $8,860,000 after purchasing an additional 38,385 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Victory Capital Management Inc. bought a new stake in Golden Entertainment in the third quarter worth $875,000. 70.73% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have weighed in on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price target on shares of Golden Entertainment from $31.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Golden Entertainment from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, February 28th. JMP Securities reaffirmed a “market outperform” rating and set a $36.00 price objective on shares of Golden Entertainment in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. Macquarie reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $40.00 price objective on shares of Golden Entertainment in a research note on Friday, February 28th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company assumed coverage on shares of Golden Entertainment in a research note on Monday, December 16th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $38.00 price objective for the company. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $36.86.

Golden Entertainment Price Performance

GDEN stock opened at $27.18 on Wednesday. Golden Entertainment, Inc. has a 1 year low of $25.17 and a 1 year high of $36.92. The company has a market cap of $720.57 million, a P/E ratio of 21.92 and a beta of 2.29. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $31.44 and a 200 day moving average of $31.66. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.75, a current ratio of 1.11 and a quick ratio of 1.03.

Golden Entertainment Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 2nd. Investors of record on Friday, March 21st will be paid a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.68%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 21st. Golden Entertainment’s payout ratio is currently 59.88%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Golden Entertainment news, Director Terrence Wright sold 16,586 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $31.26, for a total value of $518,478.36. Following the sale, the director now owns 61,616 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,926,116.16. This represents a 21.21 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 29.10% of the stock is owned by insiders.

About Golden Entertainment

Golden Entertainment, Inc owns and operates a diversified entertainment platform in the United States. The company operates through four segments; Nevada Casino Resorts, Nevada Locals Casinos, Nevada Taverns, and Distributed Gaming. It also operates casino, casino resorts, and taverns; and slot machines in third party non-casino locations.