Ameritas Investment Partners Inc. Cuts Stock Holdings in Gaming and Leisure Properties, Inc. (NASDAQ:GLPI)

Ameritas Investment Partners Inc. lessened its holdings in Gaming and Leisure Properties, Inc. (NASDAQ:GLPI) by 2.0% during the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 57,748 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 1,155 shares during the quarter. Ameritas Investment Partners Inc.’s holdings in Gaming and Leisure Properties were worth $2,611,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in GLPI. Sei Investments Co. boosted its stake in shares of Gaming and Leisure Properties by 11.4% in the second quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 539,593 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $24,395,000 after buying an additional 55,385 shares in the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in Gaming and Leisure Properties by 23.8% in the second quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 49,852 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $2,254,000 after acquiring an additional 9,568 shares during the period. Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ boosted its position in shares of Gaming and Leisure Properties by 260.7% during the 2nd quarter. Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ now owns 189,415 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $8,563,000 after purchasing an additional 136,900 shares in the last quarter. AE Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Gaming and Leisure Properties by 6.7% during the 2nd quarter. AE Wealth Management LLC now owns 8,076 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $365,000 after purchasing an additional 508 shares during the period. Finally, Ieq Capital LLC increased its holdings in shares of Gaming and Leisure Properties by 0.3% in the 2nd quarter. Ieq Capital LLC now owns 90,749 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $4,103,000 after purchasing an additional 257 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 91.14% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Raymond James upped their target price on shares of Gaming and Leisure Properties from $50.00 to $53.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 21st. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price target on Gaming and Leisure Properties from $52.00 to $53.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, July 29th. Scotiabank lifted their price objective on Gaming and Leisure Properties from $48.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 16th. UBS Group boosted their target price on Gaming and Leisure Properties from $56.00 to $61.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 16th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price target on Gaming and Leisure Properties from $47.00 to $48.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, July 29th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Gaming and Leisure Properties presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $52.11.

Gaming and Leisure Properties Stock Performance

Shares of GLPI opened at $50.90 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $13.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.78, a PEG ratio of 5.47 and a beta of 0.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.49, a quick ratio of 5.91 and a current ratio of 5.91. Gaming and Leisure Properties, Inc. has a 1 year low of $41.80 and a 1 year high of $52.60. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $50.20 and its 200 day simple moving average is $46.53.

Gaming and Leisure Properties (NASDAQ:GLPI) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 25th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.77 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.92 by ($0.15). The business had revenue of $380.60 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $377.95 million. Gaming and Leisure Properties had a return on equity of 17.60% and a net margin of 52.79%. Gaming and Leisure Properties’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.92 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Gaming and Leisure Properties, Inc. will post 3.67 EPS for the current year.

Gaming and Leisure Properties Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 27th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 13th will be issued a $0.76 dividend. This represents a $3.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.97%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 13th. Gaming and Leisure Properties’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 112.18%.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director E Scott Urdang sold 5,605 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $48.89, for a total value of $274,028.45. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 156,685 shares in the company, valued at $7,660,329.65. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, CFO Desiree A. Burke sold 12,973 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $52.02, for a total transaction of $674,855.46. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 108,073 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,621,957.46. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director E Scott Urdang sold 5,605 shares of Gaming and Leisure Properties stock in a transaction on Monday, August 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $48.89, for a total value of $274,028.45. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 156,685 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,660,329.65. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 49,478 shares of company stock valued at $2,495,429 in the last 90 days. 4.40% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.