Gaming and Leisure Properties, Inc. (NASDAQ:GLPI) Position Trimmed by Janney Montgomery Scott LLC

Janney Montgomery Scott LLC reduced its holdings in Gaming and Leisure Properties, Inc. (NASDAQ:GLPI) by 4.2% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 348,595 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 15,407 shares during the period. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC’s holdings in Gaming and Leisure Properties were worth $16,788,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of GLPI. Aspire Private Capital LLC lifted its holdings in Gaming and Leisure Properties by 3.6% in the fourth quarter. Aspire Private Capital LLC now owns 15,950 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $768,000 after acquiring an additional 556 shares during the last quarter. Atomi Financial Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Gaming and Leisure Properties by 6.9% during the 4th quarter. Atomi Financial Group Inc. now owns 5,791 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $279,000 after purchasing an additional 374 shares during the period. Pure Financial Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Gaming and Leisure Properties by 6.3% in the 4th quarter. Pure Financial Advisors LLC now owns 8,455 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $407,000 after purchasing an additional 500 shares during the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. boosted 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 purchasing an additional 499 shares during the period. Finally, HB Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Gaming and Leisure Properties during the 4th quarter worth $211,000. 91.14% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the company. Barclays started coverage on Gaming and Leisure Properties in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $54.53 target price on the stock. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised shares of Gaming and Leisure Properties from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $49.00 to $54.00 in a research note on Wednesday, November 20th. Wells Fargo & Company restated an “equal weight” rating and issued a $52.00 price target (up previously from $51.00) on shares of Gaming and Leisure Properties in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st. StockNews.com cut Gaming and Leisure Properties from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, October 28th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus increased their price objective on Gaming and Leisure Properties from $53.25 to $57.50 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $53.93.

Gaming and Leisure Properties Trading Up 0.7 %

Shares of GLPI stock opened at $48.11 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $48.87 and a 200 day simple moving average of $49.75. The stock has a market capitalization of $13.20 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.82, a P/E/G ratio of 1.96 and a beta of 0.99. Gaming and Leisure Properties, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $41.80 and a fifty-two week high of $52.60. The company has a quick ratio of 11.35, a current ratio of 11.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.62.

Gaming and Leisure Properties (NASDAQ:GLPI) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 24th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.67 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.92 by ($0.25). Gaming and Leisure Properties had a return on equity of 17.31% and a net margin of 51.93%. The business had revenue of $385.34 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $385.09 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.92 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts expect 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 announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 20th. Investors of record on Friday, December 6th were issued a dividend of $0.76 per share. This represents a $3.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.32%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 6th. Gaming and Leisure Properties’s payout ratio is 106.29%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, SVP Matthew Demchyk sold 10,474 shares of Gaming and Leisure Properties stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $48.62, for a total value of $509,245.88. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 71,757 shares in the company, valued at $3,488,825.34. The trade was a 12.74 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director E Scott Urdang sold 6,885 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $50.16, for a total value of $345,351.60. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 149,800 shares in the company, valued at $7,513,968. This trade represents a 4.39 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 25,490 shares of company stock worth $1,251,189. 4.37% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.