Jennison Associates LLC Raises Stock Holdings in Gaming and Leisure Properties, Inc. (NASDAQ:GLPI)

Jennison Associates LLC increased its position in shares of Gaming and Leisure Properties, Inc. (NASDAQ:GLPI) by 25.3% during the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 4,075,461 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after acquiring an additional 821,634 shares during the quarter. Jennison Associates LLC’s holdings in Gaming and Leisure Properties were worth $209,682,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the business. Assetmark Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Gaming and Leisure Properties by 2,547.6% during the 3rd quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 556 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 535 shares during the period. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC purchased a new position in shares of Gaming and Leisure Properties in the 2nd quarter valued at $31,000. EdgeRock Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of Gaming and Leisure Properties during the 2nd quarter valued at $33,000. Versant Capital Management Inc boosted its position in Gaming and Leisure Properties by 18,500.0% during the 2nd quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 744 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $34,000 after purchasing an additional 740 shares during the period. Finally, Farther Finance Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Gaming and Leisure Properties by 142.2% in the 3rd quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 654 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $34,000 after purchasing an additional 384 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 91.14% of the company’s stock.

Gaming and Leisure Properties Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ GLPI opened at $50.25 on Wednesday. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $50.64 and its 200 day simple moving average is $48.32. The stock has a market capitalization of $13.79 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.57, a PEG ratio of 2.12 and a beta of 0.99. 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, Inc. has a 52-week low of $41.80 and a 52-week high of $52.60.

Gaming and Leisure Properties (NASDAQ:GLPI) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.67 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.92 by ($0.25). Gaming and Leisure Properties had a return on equity of 17.31% and a net margin of 51.93%. The company had revenue of $385.34 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $385.09 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.92 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Gaming and Leisure Properties, Inc. will post 3.67 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Gaming and Leisure Properties Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 27th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 13th were given a dividend of $0.76 per share. This represents a $3.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.05%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, September 13th. Gaming and Leisure Properties’s payout ratio is 106.29%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

GLPI has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price target on Gaming and Leisure Properties from $47.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, July 29th. Wolfe Research raised Gaming and Leisure Properties from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $57.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Friday, August 23rd. JMP Securities restated a “market outperform” rating and set a $55.00 price objective on shares of Gaming and Leisure Properties in a report on Tuesday, October 29th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on shares of Gaming and Leisure Properties from $52.00 to $52.50 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, July 26th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of Gaming and Leisure Properties from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, October 28th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Gaming and Leisure Properties currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $52.54.

Insider Buying and Selling at Gaming and Leisure Properties

In related news, CFO Desiree A. Burke sold 12,973 shares of Gaming and Leisure Properties stock in a transaction on Friday, August 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $52.02, for a total transaction of $674,855.46. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 108,073 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,621,957.46. This trade represents a 10.72 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, COO Brandon John Moore sold 30,900 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $50.05, for a total value of $1,546,545.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 208,977 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,459,298.85. The trade was a 12.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 53,758 shares of company stock valued at $2,717,922 in the last three months. 4.37% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Gaming and Leisure Properties Company Profile

GLPI is engaged in the business of acquiring, financing, and owning real estate property to be leased to gaming operators in triple-net lease arrangements, pursuant to which the tenant is responsible for all facility maintenance, insurance required in connection with the leased properties and the business conducted on the leased properties, taxes levied on or with respect to the leased properties and all utilities and other services necessary or appropriate for the leased properties and the business conducted on the leased properties.