Vanguard Group Inc. Sells 194,845 Shares of Gaming and Leisure Properties, Inc. (NASDAQ:GLPI)

Key Points

• Vanguard Group Inc. reduced its holdings in Gaming and Leisure Properties, Inc. by 0.5%, selling 194,845 shares, leaving it with approximately 37.45 million shares valued at $1.91 billion.
• Several institutional investors, including Dodge & Cox and Hsbc Holdings PLC, increased their stakes in GLPI, reflecting a growing interest among hedge funds in this real estate investment trust.
• Gaming and Leisure Properties announced a quarterly dividend increase to $0.78, equating to an annual yield of 6.8%, indicating strong financial performance despite missing quarterly earnings expectations.

Vanguard Group Inc. trimmed its stake in shares of Gaming and Leisure Properties, Inc. (NASDAQ:GLPI - Free Report) by 0.5% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 37,450,456 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after selling 194,845 shares during the quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. owned approximately 13.63% of Gaming and Leisure Properties worth $1,906,228,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. GF Fund Management CO. LTD. lifted its stake in Gaming and Leisure Properties by 4.2% in the first quarter. GF Fund Management CO. LTD. now owns 5,197 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $265,000 after buying an additional 211 shares during the period. TD Private Client Wealth LLC boosted its stake in Gaming and Leisure Properties by 64.2% during the first quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC now owns 545 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $28,000 after acquiring an additional 213 shares in the last quarter. Pure Financial Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Gaming and Leisure Properties by 2.6% in the first quarter. Pure Financial Advisors LLC now owns 8,676 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $442,000 after purchasing an additional 221 shares during the period. Freedom Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in Gaming and Leisure Properties by 3.8% in the fourth quarter. Freedom Investment Management Inc. now owns 6,063 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $292,000 after purchasing an additional 222 shares during the period. Finally, Woodward Diversified Capital LLC increased its stake in Gaming and Leisure Properties by 5.8% in the first quarter. Woodward Diversified Capital LLC now owns 4,402 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $224,000 after purchasing an additional 243 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 91.14% of the company's stock.

Insider Transactions at Gaming and Leisure Properties

In other news, Director E Scott Urdang sold 3,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $46.54, for a total transaction of $139,620.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 133,953 shares of the company's stock, valued at $6,234,172.62. This represents a 2.19% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 4.26% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Macquarie cut their price objective on shares of Gaming and Leisure Properties from $60.00 to $59.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, July 28th. Barclays increased their price target on Gaming and Leisure Properties from $54.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Monday, July 21st. Wedbush set a $55.00 price objective on Gaming and Leisure Properties in a report on Monday, April 28th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on Gaming and Leisure Properties from $51.00 to $49.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, June 2nd. Finally, Mizuho reduced their price target on shares of Gaming and Leisure Properties from $53.00 to $48.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, June 16th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $53.16.

Gaming and Leisure Properties Stock Performance

NASDAQ GLPI traded down $0.40 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $45.86. 378,989 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,451,057. The stock has a market capitalization of $12.98 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.77, a P/E/G ratio of 9.97 and a beta of 0.71. The company has a quick ratio of 7.39, a current ratio of 7.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.41. Gaming and Leisure Properties, Inc. has a 1 year low of $44.48 and a 1 year high of $52.60. The business's 50 day simple moving average is $46.85 and its 200-day simple moving average is $47.94.

Gaming and Leisure Properties (NASDAQ:GLPI - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 24th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.96 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.97 by ($0.01). The company had revenue of $394.90 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $397.27 million. Gaming and Leisure Properties had a return on equity of 15.43% and a net margin of 46.32%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 3.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.94 EPS. On average, equities research analysts expect that Gaming and Leisure Properties, Inc. will post 3.81 earnings per share for the current year.

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.