Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD Sells 108,707 Shares of Gaming and Leisure Properties, Inc. (NASDAQ:GLPI)

Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD cut its stake in shares of Gaming and Leisure Properties, Inc. (NASDAQ:GLPI) by 2.3% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 4,688,546 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 108,707 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD’s holdings in Gaming and Leisure Properties were worth $225,802,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Dodge & Cox grew its position in Gaming and Leisure Properties by 75.3% during the fourth quarter. Dodge & Cox now owns 13,498,634 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $650,094,000 after buying an additional 5,797,299 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its stake in shares of Gaming and Leisure Properties by 4.7% during the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 12,830,944 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $617,938,000 after purchasing an additional 571,720 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Gaming and Leisure Properties by 2.7% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 6,245,884 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $300,395,000 after buying an additional 165,024 shares in the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC lifted its stake in Gaming and Leisure Properties by 5.2% in the 4th 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, Norges Bank bought a new stake in Gaming and Leisure Properties during the fourth quarter valued at $176,123,000. 91.14% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Gaming and Leisure Properties Stock Performance

Gaming and Leisure Properties stock opened at $47.74 on Friday. Gaming and Leisure Properties, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $42.20 and a fifty-two week high of $52.60. The company has a market capitalization of $13.12 billion, a PE ratio of 16.63, a P/E/G ratio of 2.01 and a beta of 0.72. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $49.43 and a 200-day moving average price of $49.33. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.62, a quick ratio of 11.35 and a current ratio of 11.35.

Gaming and Leisure Properties (NASDAQ:GLPI) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.96 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.96. Gaming and Leisure Properties had a return on equity of 17.41% and a net margin of 51.65%. The company had revenue of $395.24 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $396.27 million. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Gaming and Leisure Properties, Inc. will post 3.81 earnings per share for the current year.

Gaming and Leisure Properties Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th were given a dividend of $0.76 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 14th. This represents a $3.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.37%. Gaming and Leisure Properties’s dividend payout ratio is currently 105.92%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have commented on GLPI shares. Royal Bank of Canada cut their price target on shares of Gaming and Leisure Properties from $57.00 to $56.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, February 24th. Macquarie reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $60.00 price objective on shares of Gaming and Leisure Properties in a research report on Friday. Scotiabank cut their target price on Gaming and Leisure Properties from $50.00 to $49.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. Morgan Stanley cut shares of Gaming and Leisure Properties from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and set a $53.00 target price for the company. in a research report on Wednesday, January 15th. Finally, Mizuho upped their price target on Gaming and Leisure Properties from $51.00 to $53.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 3rd. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Gaming and Leisure Properties has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $54.57.

Insider Activity at Gaming and Leisure Properties

In other news, Director E Scott Urdang sold 5,000 shares of Gaming and Leisure Properties stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 11th. The stock was 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $7,173,098.17. The trade was a 3.43 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, SVP Matthew Demchyk sold 17,617 shares of Gaming and Leisure Properties stock in a transaction on Monday, January 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $49.40, for a total transaction of $870,279.80. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 54,140 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,674,516. This trade represents a 24.55 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 40,459 shares of company stock worth $2,024,241 over the last quarter. Insiders own 4.37% of the company’s stock.

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.