Matthew Demchyk Sells 1,149 Shares of Gaming and Leisure Properties, Inc. (NASDAQ:GLPI) Stock

Gaming and Leisure Properties, Inc. (NASDAQ:GLPI) SVP Matthew Demchyk sold 1,149 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $47.80, for a total value of $54,922.20. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 91,620 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,379,436. This trade represents a 1.24 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website.

Gaming and Leisure Properties Trading Down 1.1 %

Gaming and Leisure Properties stock opened at $46.58 on Thursday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $49.38 and a 200 day moving average price of $49.49. Gaming and Leisure Properties, Inc. has a 52 week low of $41.80 and a 52 week high of $52.60. The stock has a market cap of $12.78 billion, a PE ratio of 16.29, a P/E/G ratio of 2.13 and a beta of 0.99. The company has a current ratio of 11.35, a quick ratio of 11.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.62.

Gaming and Leisure Properties (NASDAQ:GLPI) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.67 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.92 by ($0.25). The firm had revenue of $385.34 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $385.09 million. Gaming and Leisure Properties had a return on equity of 17.31% and a net margin of 51.93%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 7.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.92 earnings per share. Equities research analysts predict 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 firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 20th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 6th were paid a dividend of $0.76 per share. This represents a $3.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.53%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 6th. Gaming and Leisure Properties’s dividend payout ratio is presently 106.29%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Gaming and Leisure Properties

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in GLPI. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC boosted its stake in Gaming and Leisure Properties by 647.0% in the 3rd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 2,025,526 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $104,213,000 after buying an additional 1,754,370 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Gaming and Leisure Properties by 7.8% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 12,259,224 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $641,059,000 after acquiring an additional 889,698 shares during the period. Jennison Associates LLC increased its position in Gaming and Leisure Properties by 25.3% during the third quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 4,075,461 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $209,682,000 after purchasing an additional 821,634 shares during the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC raised its stake in Gaming and Leisure Properties by 6,162.9% during the third quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 812,981 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $41,820,000 after purchasing an additional 800,000 shares during the period. Finally, Point72 Asset Management L.P. acquired a new position in shares of Gaming and Leisure Properties in the 3rd quarter valued at $27,057,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 91.14% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have issued reports on the company. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded Gaming and Leisure Properties from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $49.00 to $54.00 in a research report on Wednesday, November 20th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price target on shares of Gaming and Leisure Properties from $53.25 to $57.50 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Gaming and Leisure Properties from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, October 28th. Barclays initiated coverage on shares of Gaming and Leisure Properties in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $54.53 target price for the company. Finally, JMP Securities reissued a “market outperform” rating and set a $55.00 price target on shares of Gaming and Leisure Properties in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $54.00.

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.