Shares of Las Vegas-based casino operator Boyd Gaming Corp. (NYSE: BYD) took off in after-hours trading Monday after a regulatory filing from activist hedge fund Elliott Associates disclosed that it owns 4.99% of Boyd’s shares outstanding. Additional exposure through derivatives raised its total stake to 7%.

The filing allows the fund to seek talks with Boyd’s management or its board, but no present plan or proposal to engage management was mentioned.

Boyd reported a larger-than-expected net loss for the fourth quarter on smaller than expected revenue. The company also announced in the quarterly report that it had sold its Echelon site on the Las Vegas Strip to a Malaysian gambling group for $350 million in cash.

Elliott Associates has also been focused recently on Riverbed Technology Inc. (NASDAQ: RVBD) and Juniper Networks Inc. (NYSE: JNPR). It owns about 10.5% of the former, and made a $21 per share offer to buy it out that was rebuffed by the company. Juniper announced the initiation of a dividend and a share repurchase program in the wake of an Elliott letter to Juniper’s board with recommendations for actions it could take to create value. Shares of both companies have seen gains following Elliott’s actions.

After falling more than 6% in January, along with the broader markets, Boyd shares were up about 4.3% year to date as of Monday’s close. But shares were up 18.31% in morning trading Tuesday to $13.96. The 52-week range is $6.91 to $14.75.

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