Principal Securities Inc. Raises Position in Gaming and Leisure Properties, Inc. (NASDAQ:GLPI)

Principal Securities Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Gaming and Leisure Properties, Inc. (NASDAQ:GLPI) by 7.8% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 16,538 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,197 shares during the period. Principal Securities Inc.’s holdings in Gaming and Leisure Properties were worth $796,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its stake in Gaming and Leisure Properties by 7.8% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 12,259,224 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $641,059,000 after buying an additional 889,698 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in Gaming and Leisure Properties by 1.4% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 12,135,195 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $624,356,000 after purchasing an additional 162,484 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Gaming and Leisure Properties by 2.7% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 6,080,860 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $312,316,000 after purchasing an additional 161,689 shares during the period. Jennison Associates LLC boosted its holdings in Gaming and Leisure Properties by 5.2% in the 4th quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 4,287,118 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $206,468,000 after purchasing an additional 211,657 shares during the period. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Gaming and Leisure Properties by 3.0% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,327,466 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $171,198,000 after purchasing an additional 96,028 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 91.14% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have commented on GLPI. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised shares of Gaming and Leisure Properties from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price target for the company from $49.00 to $54.00 in a report on Wednesday, November 20th. Morgan Stanley downgraded shares of Gaming and Leisure Properties from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and set a $53.00 price objective for the company. in a report on Wednesday, January 15th. Scotiabank dropped their price objective on shares of Gaming and Leisure Properties from $50.00 to $49.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 16th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price target on shares of Gaming and Leisure Properties from $53.25 to $57.50 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 26th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of Gaming and Leisure Properties from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, October 28th. 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 company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $53.93.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, SVP Matthew Demchyk sold 1,149 shares of Gaming and Leisure Properties stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $47.80, for a total transaction of $54,922.20. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 91,620 shares in the company, valued at $4,379,436. This trade represents a 1.24 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, COO Brandon John Moore sold 3,982 shares of Gaming and Leisure Properties 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 transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 278,634 shares in the company, valued at $13,329,850.56. This represents a 1.41 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 33,222 shares of company stock worth $1,624,947. 4.37% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Gaming and Leisure Properties Trading Up 0.8 %

NASDAQ:GLPI opened at $49.39 on Friday. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $48.16 and its 200-day moving average price is $49.76. Gaming and Leisure Properties, Inc. has a 52 week low of $41.80 and a 52 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. The stock has a market cap of $13.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.27, a PEG ratio of 2.00 and a beta of 0.99.

Gaming and Leisure Properties (NASDAQ:GLPI) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.95 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.94 by $0.01. Gaming and Leisure Properties had a net margin of 51.93% and a return on equity of 17.31%. On average, equities research analysts forecast 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 business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 20th. Investors of record on Friday, December 6th were issued a $0.76 dividend. This represents a $3.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.16%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 6th. Gaming and Leisure Properties’s dividend payout ratio is currently 106.29%.

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.