Arizona State Retirement System Has $3.84 Million Stock Position in Gaming and Leisure Properties, Inc. (NASDAQ:GLPI)

Arizona State Retirement System boosted its holdings in Gaming and Leisure Properties, Inc. (NASDAQ:GLPI) by 2.4% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 79,666 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,882 shares during the quarter. Arizona State Retirement System’s holdings in Gaming and Leisure Properties were worth $3,837,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its stake in shares of Gaming and Leisure Properties by 7.8% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 12,259,224 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $641,059,000 after acquiring an additional 889,698 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its holdings in Gaming and Leisure Properties by 1.4% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 12,135,195 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $624,356,000 after purchasing an additional 162,484 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Gaming and Leisure Properties by 2.7% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 6,080,860 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $312,316,000 after purchasing an additional 161,689 shares in the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC raised its holdings in shares of Gaming and Leisure Properties by 5.2% during the fourth quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 4,287,118 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $206,468,000 after purchasing an additional 211,657 shares during the period. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Gaming and Leisure Properties by 3.0% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,327,466 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $171,198,000 after purchasing an additional 96,028 shares in the last quarter. 91.14% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Gaming and Leisure Properties Trading Up 1.2 %

Shares of GLPI stock opened at $50.61 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.62, a quick ratio of 11.35 and a current ratio of 11.35. The company has a market capitalization of $13.91 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.63, a PEG ratio of 2.01 and a beta of 1.00. Gaming and Leisure Properties, Inc. has a 52-week low of $41.80 and a 52-week high of $52.60. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $48.53 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $49.80.

Gaming and Leisure Properties (NASDAQ:GLPI) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.95 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.94 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $389.62 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $391.54 million. Gaming and Leisure Properties had a return on equity of 17.41% and a net margin of 51.65%. Research analysts anticipate that Gaming and Leisure Properties, Inc. will post 3.81 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Gaming and Leisure Properties Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be given a dividend of $0.76 per share. This represents a $3.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.01%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. Gaming and Leisure Properties’s dividend payout ratio is presently 105.92%.

Insider Activity

In other news, COO Brandon John Moore sold 3,982 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $47.84, for a total transaction of $190,498.88. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 278,634 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $13,329,850.56. This represents a 1.41 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, SVP Matthew Demchyk sold 1,149 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $47.80, for a total transaction of $54,922.20. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 91,620 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,379,436. The trade was a 1.24 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 49,161 shares of company stock valued at $2,425,521 in the last ninety days. 4.37% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently commented on GLPI. Morgan Stanley lowered Gaming and Leisure Properties from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and set a $53.00 target price for the company. in a research report on Wednesday, January 15th. Scotiabank lowered their target price on Gaming and Leisure Properties from $50.00 to $49.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded Gaming and Leisure Properties from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $49.00 to $54.00 in a report on Friday, December 13th. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their price target on shares of Gaming and Leisure Properties from $57.00 to $56.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, February 24th. Finally, Barclays dropped their price objective on shares of Gaming and Leisure Properties from $55.00 to $53.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $54.04.

Gaming and Leisure Properties Profile

Gaming & Leisure Properties, Inc engages in acquiring, financing, and owning real estate property to be leased to gaming operators in triple-net lease arrangements. The company was founded on February 13, 2013 and is headquartered in Wyomissing, PA.