Victory Capital Management Inc. Grows Position in Gaming and Leisure Properties, Inc. (NASDAQ:GLPI)

Victory Capital Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Gaming and Leisure Properties, Inc. (NASDAQ:GLPI) by 0.5% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 802,787 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after acquiring an additional 3,865 shares during the quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. owned 0.29% of Gaming and Leisure Properties worth $38,662,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Assetmark Inc. boosted its holdings in Gaming and Leisure Properties by 2,547.6% during the third quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 556 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 535 shares during the last quarter. Stonebridge Financial Group LLC purchased a new stake in Gaming and Leisure Properties in the 4th quarter valued at about $31,000. Farther Finance Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Gaming and Leisure Properties by 142.2% during the 3rd quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 654 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $34,000 after buying an additional 384 shares in the last quarter. CKW Financial Group boosted its stake in shares of Gaming and Leisure Properties by 75.0% in the 4th quarter. CKW Financial Group now owns 700 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $34,000 after buying an additional 300 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Brooklyn Investment Group bought a new position in shares of Gaming and Leisure Properties in the third quarter valued at approximately $39,000. Institutional investors own 91.14% of the company’s stock.

Gaming and Leisure Properties Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ GLPI opened at $50.61 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $13.91 billion, a PE ratio of 17.63, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.01 and a beta of 1.00. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $48.53 and a 200-day moving average of $49.80. 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 debt-to-equity ratio of 1.62, a quick ratio of 11.35 and a current ratio of 11.35.

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

Gaming and Leisure Properties Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be issued a $0.76 dividend. This represents a $3.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.01%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. Gaming and Leisure Properties’s dividend payout ratio is 105.92%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently commented on GLPI shares. Scotiabank dropped their price target on 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. Morgan Stanley downgraded shares of Gaming and Leisure Properties from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and set a $53.00 price target on the stock. in a report on Wednesday, January 15th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded shares of Gaming and Leisure Properties from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $49.00 to $54.00 in a report on Friday, December 13th. Mizuho dropped their target price on shares of 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. Finally, Barclays reduced their target price on shares of Gaming and Leisure Properties from $55.00 to $53.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $54.04.

Insider Activity at Gaming and Leisure Properties

In other news, Director E Scott Urdang sold 5,000 shares of Gaming and Leisure Properties stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $49.72, for a total value of $248,600.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 145,953 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,256,783.16. This trade represents a 3.31 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, SVP Matthew Demchyk sold 1,149 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 owns 91,620 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,379,436. This represents a 1.24 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 49,161 shares of company stock worth $2,425,521 in the last three months. 4.37% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Gaming and Leisure Properties 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.