California Public Employees Retirement System Acquires 41,586 Shares of Gaming and Leisure Properties, Inc. (NASDAQ:GLPI)

California Public Employees Retirement System lifted its holdings in shares of Gaming and Leisure Properties, Inc. (NASDAQ:GLPI) by 5.0% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 866,056 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after purchasing an additional 41,586 shares during the period. California Public Employees Retirement System owned 0.32% of Gaming and Leisure Properties worth $41,709,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in GLPI. Stonebridge Financial Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Gaming and Leisure Properties during the fourth quarter valued at about $31,000. CKW Financial Group raised its stake in Gaming and Leisure Properties by 75.0% during 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 Gaming and Leisure Properties in the third quarter worth approximately $66,000. UMB Bank n.a. grew its stake in Gaming and Leisure Properties by 57.4% in the fourth 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 increased its holdings in shares of 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 valued at $83,000 after acquiring an additional 647 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 91.14% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Gaming and Leisure Properties

In related 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 shares were sold at an average price of $50.89, for a total value of $254,450.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 140,953 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,173,098.17. The trade was a 3.43 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Matthew Demchyk sold 1,138 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, February 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $50.45, for a total value of $57,412.10. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 53,002 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,673,950.90. This represents a 2.10 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 50,933 shares of company stock worth $2,533,487. 4.37% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded shares of 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 report on Friday, December 13th. Scotiabank decreased their target price on shares of Gaming and Leisure Properties from $50.00 to $49.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. Royal Bank of Canada cut their price target on 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. Finally, JMP Securities reissued a “market outperform” rating and issued a $55.00 price objective on shares of Gaming and Leisure Properties in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $53.96.

Gaming and Leisure Properties Price Performance

GLPI opened at $50.56 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $13.90 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.62, a PEG ratio of 2.01 and a beta of 1.00. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $49.63 and a 200 day moving average of $49.69. 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, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $41.80 and a fifty-two week high of $52.60.

Gaming and Leisure Properties (NASDAQ:GLPI) last released 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. 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $391.54 million. On average, research analysts expect that Gaming and Leisure Properties, Inc. will post 3.81 EPS 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. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th were given a dividend of $0.76 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 14th. This represents a $3.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.01%. Gaming and Leisure Properties’s dividend payout ratio is presently 105.92%.

Gaming and Leisure Properties Company 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.