Gaming and Leisure Properties, Inc. (NASDAQ:GLPI) Shares Sold by Prudent Man Advisors LLC

Prudent Man Advisors LLC reduced its stake in Gaming and Leisure Properties, Inc. (NASDAQ:GLPI) by 10.2% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 4,371 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 497 shares during the quarter. Prudent Man Advisors LLC’s holdings in Gaming and Leisure Properties were worth $211,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of GLPI. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Gaming and Leisure Properties by 7.8% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 12,259,224 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $641,059,000 after buying an additional 889,698 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its holdings in Gaming and Leisure Properties by 1.4% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 12,135,195 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $624,356,000 after purchasing an additional 162,484 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Gaming and Leisure Properties by 2.7% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 6,080,860 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $312,316,000 after purchasing an additional 161,689 shares in the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC raised its holdings in Gaming and Leisure Properties by 5.2% during the fourth quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 4,287,118 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $206,468,000 after purchasing an additional 211,657 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in Gaming and Leisure Properties by 3.0% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,327,466 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $171,198,000 after purchasing an additional 96,028 shares in the last quarter. 91.14% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Gaming and Leisure Properties Trading Up 0.5 %

NASDAQ GLPI opened at $50.15 on Friday. Gaming and Leisure Properties, Inc. has a twelve month low of $41.80 and a twelve month high of $52.60. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.62, a quick ratio of 11.35 and a current ratio of 11.35. The stock has a market cap of $13.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.47, a PEG ratio of 2.01 and a beta of 0.99. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $48.31 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $49.78.

Gaming and Leisure Properties (NASDAQ:GLPI) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 20th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.95 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.94 by $0.01. Gaming and Leisure Properties had a net margin of 51.65% and a return on equity of 17.41%. The firm had revenue of $389.62 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $391.54 million. Equities analysts anticipate that Gaming and Leisure Properties, Inc. will post 3.81 EPS for the current year.

Gaming and Leisure Properties Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be issued a dividend of $0.76 per share. This represents a $3.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.06%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. Gaming and Leisure Properties’s dividend payout ratio is currently 105.92%.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Matthew Demchyk sold 1,149 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $47.80, for a total transaction of $54,922.20. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 91,620 shares in the company, valued at $4,379,436. The trade was a 1.24 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director E Scott Urdang sold 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $49.72, for a total transaction of $248,600.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 145,953 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,256,783.16. This represents a 3.31 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 38,222 shares of company stock worth $1,873,547 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 4.37% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently commented on GLPI. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised Gaming and Leisure Properties from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $49.00 to $54.00 in a report on Friday, December 13th. Morgan Stanley cut Gaming and Leisure Properties from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and set a $53.00 target price on the stock. in a report on Wednesday, January 15th. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their target price on Gaming and Leisure Properties from $57.00 to $56.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, February 24th. JMP Securities reissued a “market outperform” rating and set a $55.00 target price on shares of Gaming and Leisure Properties in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on shares of Gaming and Leisure Properties from $53.25 to $57.50 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 26th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $54.15.

About Gaming and Leisure Properties

Gaming & Leisure Properties, Inc engages in 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.