Gaming and Leisure Properties, Inc. (NASDAQ:GLPI) Stock Position Raised by Van ECK Associates Corp

Van ECK Associates Corp increased its stake in Gaming and Leisure Properties, Inc. (NASDAQ:GLPI) by 7.9% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 83,098 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after purchasing an additional 6,052 shares during the quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp’s holdings in Gaming and Leisure Properties were worth $4,002,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Creative Planning grew its holdings in shares of Gaming and Leisure Properties by 22.0% during the 3rd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 15,737 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $810,000 after acquiring an additional 2,841 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James & Associates boosted its stake in Gaming and Leisure Properties by 46.9% during the third quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 580,315 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $29,857,000 after buying an additional 185,348 shares in the last quarter. Signaturefd LLC lifted its stake in Gaming and Leisure Properties by 24.4% during the third quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 3,342 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $172,000 after purchasing an additional 656 shares during the period. Leo Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in Gaming and Leisure Properties in the 3rd quarter valued at $226,000. Finally, Private Advisor Group LLC increased its position in shares of Gaming and Leisure Properties by 9.2% during the 3rd quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 13,646 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $702,000 after purchasing an additional 1,152 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 91.14% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have commented on the company. Mizuho reduced their price objective on Gaming and Leisure Properties from $52.00 to $51.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, November 14th. JMP Securities reissued a “market outperform” rating and set a $55.00 price objective on shares of Gaming and Leisure Properties in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. Scotiabank dropped their target price on shares of Gaming and Leisure Properties from $50.00 to $49.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 16th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price target on Gaming and Leisure Properties from $53.25 to $57.50 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. Finally, Barclays started coverage on shares of Gaming and Leisure Properties in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $54.53 target price for the company. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Gaming and Leisure Properties has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $53.93.

Gaming and Leisure Properties Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ GLPI opened at $48.99 on Thursday. Gaming and Leisure Properties, Inc. has a one year low of $41.80 and a one 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 firm has a market cap of $13.44 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.13, a P/E/G ratio of 1.98 and a beta of 0.99. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $48.16 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $49.76.

Gaming and Leisure Properties Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 20th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 6th were paid a $0.76 dividend. This represents a $3.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.21%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 6th. Gaming and Leisure Properties’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 106.29%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, COO Brandon John Moore sold 3,982 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $47.84, for a total transaction of $190,498.88. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 278,634 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $13,329,850.56. The trade was a 1.41 % 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 17,617 shares of Gaming and Leisure Properties stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $49.40, for a total transaction of $870,279.80. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 54,140 shares in the company, valued at $2,674,516. This trade represents a 24.55 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 33,222 shares of company stock valued at $1,624,947 over the last 90 days. 4.37% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Gaming and Leisure Properties Company Profile

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.