Black Swift Group LLC Invests $217,000 in Gaming and Leisure Properties, Inc. (NASDAQ:GLPI)

Black Swift Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Gaming and Leisure Properties, Inc. (NASDAQ:GLPI) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 4,505 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock, valued at approximately $217,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its holdings in Gaming and Leisure Properties by 7.8% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 12,259,224 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $641,059,000 after purchasing an additional 889,698 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in Gaming and Leisure Properties by 1.4% during the 3rd 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 in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Gaming and Leisure Properties by 2.7% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 6,080,860 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $312,316,000 after purchasing an additional 161,689 shares in the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC lifted its holdings in Gaming and Leisure Properties by 5.2% during the 4th quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 4,287,118 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $206,468,000 after purchasing an additional 211,657 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in 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. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 91.14% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have weighed in on GLPI shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised Gaming and Leisure Properties from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price target for the company from $49.00 to $54.00 in a report on Wednesday, November 20th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised Gaming and Leisure Properties from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their price target for the company from $49.00 to $54.00 in a report on Friday, December 13th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price objective on 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. Mizuho reduced their price objective on Gaming and Leisure Properties from $52.00 to $51.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, November 14th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price objective on Gaming and Leisure Properties from $57.00 to $56.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, February 24th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $54.04.

Gaming and Leisure Properties Price Performance

Shares of GLPI stock opened at $50.40 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $13.85 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.56, a P/E/G ratio of 2.01 and a beta of 0.99. Gaming and Leisure Properties, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $41.80 and a fifty-two week high of $52.60. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $48.39 and its 200-day moving average price is $49.79. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.62, a quick ratio of 11.35 and a current ratio of 11.35.

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

Gaming and Leisure Properties Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be paid a $0.76 dividend. This represents a $3.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.03%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. Gaming and Leisure Properties’s payout ratio is presently 105.92%.

Insider Activity

In other Gaming and Leisure Properties news, SVP Matthew Demchyk sold 3,382 shares of Gaming and Leisure Properties stock in a transaction on Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $50.48, for a total transaction of $170,723.36. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 49,620 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,504,817.60. The trade was a 6.38 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director E Scott Urdang sold 5,000 shares of Gaming and Leisure Properties stock in a transaction 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 owns 145,953 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $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 49,161 shares of company stock worth $2,425,521 in the last quarter. 4.37% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

About Gaming and Leisure Properties

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.