9,892 Shares in Gaming and Leisure Properties, Inc. (NASDAQ:GLPI) Purchased by Virtus Investment Advisers Inc.

Virtus Investment Advisers Inc. bought a new position in shares of Gaming and Leisure Properties, Inc. (NASDAQ:GLPI - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm bought 9,892 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock, valued at approximately $476,000.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in GLPI. Dodge & Cox raised its holdings in shares of Gaming and Leisure Properties by 75.3% during the fourth quarter. Dodge & Cox now owns 13,498,634 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $650,094,000 after purchasing an additional 5,797,299 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Gaming and Leisure Properties during the fourth quarter worth $176,123,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in Gaming and Leisure Properties during the fourth quarter valued at $49,188,000. Northern Trust Corp grew its position in Gaming and Leisure Properties by 48.2% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 2,873,006 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $138,364,000 after buying an additional 933,842 shares during the period. Finally, Aew Capital Management L P grew its position in Gaming and Leisure Properties by 1,786.5% during the fourth quarter. Aew Capital Management L P now owns 761,600 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $36,679,000 after buying an additional 721,230 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 91.14% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts recently commented on the stock. Wedbush set a $55.00 price target on shares of Gaming and Leisure Properties in a research report on Monday, April 28th. Wells Fargo & Company raised 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 research report on Monday, March 10th. Scotiabank dropped their price target on shares of Gaming and Leisure Properties from $49.00 to $48.00 and set a "sector perform" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, May 12th. Macquarie restated an "outperform" rating and set a $60.00 price target on shares of Gaming and Leisure Properties in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price target on shares of Gaming and Leisure Properties from $56.00 to $54.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 28th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $54.63.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director E Scott Urdang sold 5,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $49.72, for a total transaction 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 ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, SVP Matthew Demchyk sold 3,382 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $50.48, for a total transaction of $170,723.36. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 49,620 shares in the company, valued at $2,504,817.60. The trade was a 6.38% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 22,842 shares of company stock worth $1,153,961 over the last 90 days. 4.26% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Gaming and Leisure Properties Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ GLPI traded down $0.92 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $46.38. The company had a trading volume of 2,012,446 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,298,458. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $48.40 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $48.86. Gaming and Leisure Properties, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $42.86 and a fifty-two week high of $52.60. The firm has a market capitalization of $12.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.16, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.01 and a beta of 0.81. The company has a quick ratio of 11.35, a current ratio of 11.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.62.

Gaming and Leisure Properties (NASDAQ:GLPI - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.96 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.96. Gaming and Leisure Properties had a net margin of 51.65% and a return on equity of 17.41%. The business had revenue of $395.24 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $396.27 million. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.92 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 5.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts expect that Gaming and Leisure Properties, Inc. will post 3.81 earnings per share for the current year.

Gaming and Leisure Properties Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 13th will be given a $0.78 dividend. This is a positive change from Gaming and Leisure Properties's previous quarterly dividend of $0.76. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 13th. This represents a $3.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.73%. Gaming and Leisure Properties's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 111.03%.

Gaming and Leisure Properties Company Profile

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.