Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD Cuts Stake in Gaming and Leisure Properties, Inc. (NASDAQ:GLPI)

Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD reduced its holdings in shares of Gaming and Leisure Properties, Inc. (NASDAQ:GLPI - Free Report) by 2.3% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 4,688,546 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after selling 108,707 shares during the quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD owned approximately 1.71% of Gaming and Leisure Properties worth $225,802,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in GLPI. US Bancorp DE boosted its position in Gaming and Leisure Properties by 106.2% during the fourth quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 44,745 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $2,155,000 after purchasing an additional 23,050 shares during the period. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Gaming and Leisure Properties by 11.3% during the 4th quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. now owns 24,560 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $1,183,000 after buying an additional 2,498 shares during the last quarter. Aew Capital Management L P boosted its holdings in shares of Gaming and Leisure Properties by 1,786.5% during the 4th quarter. Aew Capital Management L P now owns 761,600 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $36,679,000 after buying an additional 721,230 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in Gaming and Leisure Properties in the 4th quarter valued at about $49,188,000. Finally, Proficio Capital Partners LLC acquired a new position in Gaming and Leisure Properties in the 4th quarter valued at about $768,000. 91.14% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Gaming and Leisure Properties news, Director E Scott Urdang sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $50.89, for a total value of $254,450.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 140,953 shares in the company, valued at $7,173,098.17. This represents a 3.43 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Matthew Demchyk sold 3,382 shares of Gaming and Leisure Properties stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $50.48, for a total value of $170,723.36. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 49,620 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,504,817.60. This trade represents a 6.38 % decrease in their position. 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. Corporate insiders own 4.37% of the company's stock.

Gaming and Leisure Properties Stock Down 1.9 %

Shares of NASDAQ:GLPI traded down $0.93 during trading on Thursday, reaching $46.93. 561,009 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,263,468. Gaming and Leisure Properties, Inc. has a 1-year low of $42.62 and a 1-year high of $52.60. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $49.35 and a two-hundred day moving average of $49.27. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.62, a current ratio of 11.35 and a quick ratio of 11.35. The firm has a market cap of $12.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.35, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.01 and a beta of 0.72.

Gaming and Leisure Properties (NASDAQ:GLPI - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 24th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.96 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 firm had revenue of $395.24 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $396.27 million. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.92 EPS. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 5.1% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts anticipate that Gaming and Leisure Properties, Inc. will post 3.81 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Gaming and Leisure Properties Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th were given a $0.76 dividend. This represents a $3.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.48%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 14th. Gaming and Leisure Properties's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 108.19%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Morgan Stanley cut Gaming and Leisure Properties from an "overweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and set a $53.00 price objective for the company. in a report on Wednesday, January 15th. Macquarie reissued an "outperform" rating and issued a $60.00 target price on shares of Gaming and Leisure Properties in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of Gaming and Leisure Properties from $50.00 to $51.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Monday, March 10th. Barclays boosted their price target on Gaming and Leisure Properties from $53.00 to $54.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price target 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. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Gaming and Leisure Properties presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $54.70.

About Gaming and Leisure Properties

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.