California State Teachers Retirement System Grows Stake in Gaming and Leisure Properties, Inc. (NASDAQ:GLPI)

California State Teachers Retirement System boosted its position in Gaming and Leisure Properties, Inc. (NASDAQ:GLPI - Free Report) by 12.1% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 510,509 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after buying an additional 55,230 shares during the period. California State Teachers Retirement System owned approximately 0.19% of Gaming and Leisure Properties worth $24,586,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of GLPI. Barclays PLC increased its holdings in shares of Gaming and Leisure Properties by 129.1% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 896,831 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $46,142,000 after acquiring an additional 505,382 shares in the last quarter. KBC Group NV increased its holdings in shares of Gaming and Leisure Properties by 165.9% during the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 259,619 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $12,503,000 after acquiring an additional 161,976 shares in the last quarter. Deroy & Devereaux Private Investment Counsel Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Gaming and Leisure Properties by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. Deroy & Devereaux Private Investment Counsel Inc. now owns 64,550 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $3,109,000 after acquiring an additional 340 shares in the last quarter. DAVENPORT & Co LLC increased its holdings in shares of Gaming and Leisure Properties by 15.0% during the fourth quarter. DAVENPORT & Co LLC now owns 12,066 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $580,000 after acquiring an additional 1,577 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Golden State Equity Partners increased its holdings in shares of Gaming and Leisure Properties by 63.0% during the fourth quarter. Golden State Equity Partners now owns 4,596 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $221,000 after acquiring an additional 1,777 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 91.14% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts recently issued reports on GLPI shares. Barclays lifted their target price on Gaming and Leisure Properties from $53.00 to $54.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Scotiabank cut their target price on 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. Royal Bank of Canada cut their target price on 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. Wedbush set a $55.00 target price on Gaming and Leisure Properties in a research report on Monday, April 28th. Finally, Mizuho lifted their target price on Gaming and Leisure Properties from $51.00 to $53.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 3rd. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Gaming and Leisure Properties presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $54.63.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Gaming and Leisure Properties news, SVP Matthew Demchyk sold 6,419 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $50.45, for a total value of $323,838.55. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 43,201 shares in the company, valued at $2,179,490.45. This represents a 12.94% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director E Scott Urdang sold 5,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $50.89, for a total value of $254,450.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 140,953 shares in the company, valued at $7,173,098.17. This represents a 3.43% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 16,704 shares of company stock worth $847,949 in the last ninety days. 4.26% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Gaming and Leisure Properties Stock Performance

Shares of GLPI traded up $0.22 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $46.42. The stock had a trading volume of 3,803,580 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,318,912. The firm has a market cap of $12.76 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.17, a PEG ratio of 2.01 and a beta of 0.81. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $47.77 and a 200-day moving average price of $48.69. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.62, a current ratio of 11.35 and a quick ratio of 11.35. Gaming and Leisure Properties, Inc. has a 52 week low of $42.86 and a 52 week high of $52.60.

Gaming and Leisure Properties (NASDAQ:GLPI - Get Free Report) last issued 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 return on equity of 17.41% and a net margin of 51.65%. The firm had revenue of $395.24 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $396.27 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.92 earnings per share. The business's revenue was up 5.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts expect that Gaming and Leisure Properties, Inc. will post 3.81 EPS for the current year.

Gaming and Leisure Properties Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 27th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 13th will be paid a $0.78 dividend. This is a positive change from Gaming and Leisure Properties's previous quarterly dividend of $0.76. This represents a $3.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.72%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 13th. Gaming and Leisure Properties's dividend payout ratio is currently 111.03%.

Gaming and Leisure Properties 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.