National Pension Service Purchases 600 Shares of Gaming and Leisure Properties, Inc. (NASDAQ:GLPI)

National Pension Service lifted its position in shares of Gaming and Leisure Properties, Inc. (NASDAQ:GLPI) by 0.3% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 211,711 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after purchasing an additional 600 shares during the period. National Pension Service owned about 0.08% of Gaming and Leisure Properties worth $10,196,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in GLPI. Denali Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Gaming and Leisure Properties by 3.0% during the 4th quarter. Denali Advisors LLC now owns 29,717 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $1,432,000 after acquiring an additional 859 shares during the last quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund lifted its holdings in shares of Gaming and Leisure Properties by 56.4% during the fourth quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund now owns 44,540 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $2,145,000 after purchasing an additional 16,067 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its stake in shares of Gaming and Leisure Properties by 15.2% in the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 2,981,567 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $143,592,000 after purchasing an additional 394,069 shares during the last quarter. Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund grew its stake in shares of Gaming and Leisure Properties by 118.4% in the fourth quarter. Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund now owns 123,579 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $5,952,000 after purchasing an additional 67,000 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Allianz Asset Management GmbH increased its holdings in Gaming and Leisure Properties by 1.1% in the fourth quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH now owns 520,395 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $25,062,000 after purchasing an additional 5,786 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 91.14% of the company’s stock.

Gaming and Leisure Properties Stock Performance

Shares of Gaming and Leisure Properties stock opened at $50.15 on Friday. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $48.31 and a 200 day simple moving average of $49.78. Gaming and Leisure Properties, Inc. has a one year low of $41.80 and a one year high of $52.60. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.62, a current ratio of 11.35 and a quick ratio of 11.35. The firm has a market capitalization of $13.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.47, a PEG ratio of 2.01 and a beta of 0.99.

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

Gaming and Leisure Properties Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be issued a dividend of $0.76 per share. This represents a $3.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.06%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. Gaming and Leisure Properties’s dividend payout ratio is currently 105.92%.

Insider Transactions at Gaming and Leisure Properties

In other news, 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 value of $54,922.20. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 91,620 shares in the company, valued at $4,379,436. This trade represents a 1.24 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director E Scott Urdang sold 5,000 shares of Gaming and Leisure Properties stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $49.72, for a total value of $248,600.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 145,953 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,256,783.16. The trade was a 3.31 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 38,222 shares of company stock valued at $1,873,547 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 4.37% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

GLPI has been the topic of several recent research reports. Royal Bank of Canada cut their target price on 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. Barclays initiated coverage on Gaming and Leisure Properties in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $54.53 price objective on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price on shares of Gaming and Leisure Properties from $53.25 to $57.50 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 26th. Scotiabank dropped their price target on shares of 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. Finally, Morgan Stanley cut shares of Gaming and Leisure Properties from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and set a $53.00 price objective for the company. in a research report on Wednesday, January 15th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Gaming and Leisure Properties currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $54.15.

Gaming and Leisure Properties Company 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.