GeoWealth Management LLC Raises Stake in Gaming and Leisure Properties, Inc. (NASDAQ:GLPI)

GeoWealth Management LLC lifted its stake in Gaming and Leisure Properties, Inc. (NASDAQ:GLPI) by 51.9% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 15,860 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after purchasing an additional 5,421 shares during the period. GeoWealth Management LLC’s holdings in Gaming and Leisure Properties were worth $764,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Stonebridge Financial Group LLC bought a new position in Gaming and Leisure Properties in the 4th quarter worth about $31,000. CKW Financial Group boosted its holdings in shares of Gaming and Leisure Properties by 75.0% in the fourth quarter. CKW Financial Group now owns 700 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $34,000 after purchasing an additional 300 shares during the period. Bessemer Group Inc. grew its stake in Gaming and Leisure Properties by 149.8% in the fourth quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 1,029 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $49,000 after purchasing an additional 617 shares in the last quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB bought a new position in Gaming and Leisure Properties in the third quarter worth approximately $66,000. Finally, UMB Bank n.a. increased its holdings in Gaming and Leisure Properties by 57.4% during the 4th quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 1,368 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $66,000 after purchasing an additional 499 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 91.14% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

GLPI has been the subject of several research reports. Morgan Stanley cut 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 report on Wednesday, January 15th. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their target price on shares of Gaming and Leisure Properties from $57.00 to $56.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, February 24th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of Gaming and Leisure Properties from $50.00 to $51.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, March 10th. Mizuho increased their price objective on shares of Gaming and Leisure Properties from $51.00 to $53.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 3rd. Finally, Scotiabank reduced their price objective on shares of Gaming and Leisure Properties from $50.00 to $49.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $54.11.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director E Scott Urdang sold 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $49.72, for a total value of $248,600.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 145,953 shares in the company, valued at $7,256,783.16. This trade represents a 3.31 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, SVP Matthew Demchyk sold 1,903 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $51.99, for a total value of $98,936.97. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 41,298 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,147,083.02. This represents a 4.40 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 50,933 shares of company stock valued at $2,533,487. 4.37% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Gaming and Leisure Properties Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ GLPI opened at $49.52 on Friday. Gaming and Leisure Properties, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $42.20 and a fifty-two week high of $52.60. 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 cap of $13.61 billion, a PE ratio of 17.25, a P/E/G ratio of 2.01 and a beta of 0.72. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $49.42 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $49.39.

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

Gaming and Leisure Properties Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 28th. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th were paid a $0.76 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 14th. This represents a $3.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.14%. Gaming and Leisure Properties’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 105.92%.

About Gaming and Leisure Properties

Gaming & Leisure Properties, Inc engages in the provision of 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.