Commonwealth Equity Services LLC Cuts Position in Gaming and Leisure Properties, Inc. (NASDAQ:GLPI)

Commonwealth Equity Services LLC reduced its position in shares of Gaming and Leisure Properties, Inc. (NASDAQ:GLPI) by 1.0% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 21,157 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 221 shares during the period. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC’s holdings in Gaming and Leisure Properties were worth $1,019,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Stonebridge Financial Group LLC purchased a new position in Gaming and Leisure Properties during the 4th quarter valued at about $31,000. CKW Financial Group boosted its stake in shares of Gaming and Leisure Properties by 75.0% in the fourth quarter. CKW Financial Group now owns 700 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $34,000 after purchasing an additional 300 shares during the period. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB acquired a new position in shares of Gaming and Leisure Properties in the third quarter valued at approximately $66,000. UMB Bank n.a. increased its stake 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 worth $66,000 after buying an additional 499 shares during the period. Finally, Venturi Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in Gaming and Leisure Properties by 59.7% during the 4th quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,730 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $83,000 after buying an additional 647 shares in the last quarter. 91.14% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In other Gaming and Leisure Properties 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 value of $54,922.20. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 91,620 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,379,436. The trade was a 1.24 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director E Scott Urdang sold 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $50.89, for a total transaction of $254,450.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 140,953 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,173,098.17. The trade was a 3.43 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 56,064 shares of company stock valued at $2,778,908 in the last ninety days. 4.37% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on GLPI. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised Gaming and Leisure Properties from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $49.00 to $54.00 in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Barclays cut their price target on Gaming and Leisure Properties from $55.00 to $53.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. JMP Securities reiterated 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. Scotiabank cut 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 research note on Thursday, January 16th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of Gaming and Leisure Properties from $50.00 to $51.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, March 10th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $53.96.

Gaming and Leisure Properties Stock Performance

NASDAQ GLPI opened at $50.90 on Tuesday. The company has a fifty day moving average of $49.55 and a two-hundred day moving average of $49.69. The company has a market capitalization of $13.99 billion, a PE ratio of 17.74, a P/E/G ratio of 2.01 and a beta of 1.00. Gaming and Leisure Properties, Inc. has a 1 year low of $41.80 and a 1 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.

Gaming and Leisure Properties (NASDAQ:GLPI) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.95 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.94 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $389.62 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $391.54 million. Gaming and Leisure Properties had a return on equity of 17.41% and a net margin of 51.65%. As a group, analysts expect that Gaming and Leisure Properties, Inc. will post 3.81 earnings per share for the current year.

Gaming and Leisure Properties Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th were issued a $0.76 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 14th. This represents a $3.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.97%. Gaming and Leisure Properties’s payout ratio is 105.92%.

Gaming and Leisure Properties 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.