Employees Retirement System of Texas Boosts Stake in Gaming and Leisure Properties, Inc. (NASDAQ:GLPI)

Employees Retirement System of Texas increased its position in Gaming and Leisure Properties, Inc. (NASDAQ:GLPI) by 2.2% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 182,164 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after purchasing an additional 4,000 shares during the quarter. Employees Retirement System of Texas’ holdings in Gaming and Leisure Properties were worth $8,773,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in GLPI. Stonebridge Financial Group LLC bought a new position in Gaming and Leisure Properties in the fourth quarter worth $31,000. CKW Financial Group grew its position in shares of Gaming and Leisure Properties by 75.0% in the 4th quarter. CKW Financial Group now owns 700 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $34,000 after buying an additional 300 shares during the period. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB bought a new position in shares of Gaming and Leisure Properties in the 3rd quarter worth about $66,000. UMB Bank n.a. lifted its position in Gaming and Leisure Properties by 57.4% during the 4th quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 1,368 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $66,000 after acquiring an additional 499 shares during the period. Finally, Venturi Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in Gaming and Leisure Properties by 59.7% during the fourth quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,730 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $83,000 after acquiring an additional 647 shares in the last quarter. 91.14% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently issued reports on GLPI. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded Gaming and Leisure Properties from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $49.00 to $54.00 in a research note on Friday, December 13th. 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. Barclays dropped their price target on shares of Gaming and Leisure Properties from $55.00 to $53.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. Finally, Mizuho raised their price objective on shares of Gaming and Leisure Properties from $51.00 to $53.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Gaming and Leisure Properties presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $54.11.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, SVP Matthew Demchyk sold 17,617 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $49.40, for a total value of $870,279.80. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 54,140 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,674,516. This trade represents a 24.55 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director E Scott Urdang sold 5,000 shares of the business’s 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 transaction, the director now owns 140,953 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,173,098.17. This trade represents a 3.43 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 50,933 shares of company stock worth $2,533,487. Company insiders own 4.37% of the company’s stock.

Gaming and Leisure Properties Price Performance

NASDAQ GLPI opened at $47.89 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $13.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.69, a PEG ratio of 2.01 and a beta of 0.72. Gaming and Leisure Properties, Inc. has a 1-year low of $41.80 and a 1-year high of $52.60. 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 business’s fifty day moving average price is $49.66 and its 200-day moving average price is $49.64.

Gaming and Leisure Properties (NASDAQ:GLPI) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.95 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.94 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $389.62 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $391.54 million. Gaming and Leisure Properties had a return on equity of 17.41% and a net margin of 51.65%. On average, equities analysts predict that Gaming and Leisure Properties, Inc. will post 3.81 earnings per share for the current year.

Gaming and Leisure Properties Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 28th. Investors 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.35%. Gaming and Leisure Properties’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 105.92%.

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.