Millennium Management LLC Acquires Shares of 189,020 Gladstone Land Co. (NASDAQ:LAND)

Millennium Management LLC purchased a new position in Gladstone Land Co. (NASDAQ:LAND - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund purchased 189,020 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock, valued at approximately $2,051,000. Millennium Management LLC owned about 0.52% of Gladstone Land at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its holdings in shares of Gladstone Land by 15.2% in the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 201,093 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $2,182,000 after buying an additional 26,565 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its holdings in shares of Gladstone Land by 8.7% in the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 26,336 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $286,000 after buying an additional 2,105 shares during the period. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership acquired a new stake in shares of Gladstone Land in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $147,000. SG Americas Securities LLC increased its position in shares of Gladstone Land by 22.3% in the fourth quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 15,016 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $163,000 after buying an additional 2,736 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp increased its position in shares of Gladstone Land by 7.1% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 458,975 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $4,980,000 after buying an additional 30,322 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 53.60% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Gladstone Land

In other news, Director Anthony W. Parker sold 6,601 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $11.02, for a total transaction of $72,743.02. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 7.20% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently commented on LAND. Alliance Global Partners reaffirmed a "neutral" rating on shares of Gladstone Land in a research report on Tuesday, May 13th. Oppenheimer reiterated an "outperform" rating on shares of Gladstone Land in a research note on Friday, May 23rd. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded Gladstone Land from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 14th.

Gladstone Land Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:LAND traded down $0.15 on Thursday, reaching $9.65. 274,580 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 275,730. Gladstone Land Co. has a fifty-two week low of $8.66 and a fifty-two week high of $15.36. The company's 50 day moving average is $9.69 and its 200-day moving average is $10.62. The stock has a market capitalization of $349.19 million, a PE ratio of -33.27, a P/E/G ratio of 3.74 and a beta of 1.15. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77, a current ratio of 0.99 and a quick ratio of 0.70.

Gladstone Land (NASDAQ:LAND - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Monday, May 12th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.06 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.03 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $16.80 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $17.30 million. Gladstone Land had a net margin of 15.59% and a return on equity of 1.89%. As a group, analysts anticipate that Gladstone Land Co. will post 0.52 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Gladstone Land Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 30th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 22nd were issued a dividend of $0.0467 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, May 21st. This represents a dividend yield of 5.92%. Gladstone Land's payout ratio is presently -224.00%.

Gladstone Land Profile

Founded in 1997, Gladstone Land is a publicly traded real estate investment trust that acquires and owns farmland and farm-related properties located in major agricultural markets in the U.S. and leases its properties to unrelated third-party farmers. The Company, which reports the aggregate fair value of its farmland holdings on a quarterly basis, currently owns 169 farms, comprised of approximately 116,000 acres in 15 different states and over 45,000 acre-feet of banked water in California, valued at a total of approximately $1.6 billion.