Handelsbanken Fonder AB Raises Holdings in Gaming and Leisure Properties, Inc. (NASDAQ:GLPI)

Handelsbanken Fonder AB lifted its stake in Gaming and Leisure Properties, Inc. (NASDAQ:GLPI) by 3.7% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 74,800 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after buying an additional 2,700 shares during the quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB’s holdings in Gaming and Leisure Properties were worth $3,602,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Creative Planning raised its holdings in shares of Gaming and Leisure Properties by 22.0% during the third 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 during the last quarter. Signaturefd LLC increased 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 acquiring an additional 656 shares during the last quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC increased its stake in Gaming and Leisure Properties by 9.2% during the third quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 13,646 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $702,000 after acquiring an additional 1,152 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its stake in Gaming and Leisure Properties by 5,015.8% during the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 53,511 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $2,753,000 after acquiring an additional 52,465 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. increased its stake in Gaming and Leisure Properties by 31.6% during the third quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 11,807 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $599,000 after acquiring an additional 2,838 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 91.14% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

GLPI has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Mizuho lowered their price target on Gaming and Leisure Properties from $52.00 to $51.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, November 14th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target on Gaming and Leisure Properties from $53.25 to $57.50 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 26th. JMP Securities restated a “market outperform” rating and issued a $55.00 price target on shares of Gaming and Leisure Properties in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. Barclays assumed coverage on 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. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised Gaming and Leisure Properties from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $49.00 to $54.00 in a research report on Wednesday, November 20th. Six research 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.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $53.93.

Gaming and Leisure Properties Price Performance

Shares of Gaming and Leisure Properties stock opened at $49.11 on Monday. Gaming and Leisure Properties, Inc. has a twelve month low of $41.80 and a twelve month high of $52.60. The stock has a market capitalization of $13.47 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.11, a PEG ratio of 2.01 and a beta of 0.99. The company has a current ratio of 11.35, a quick ratio of 11.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.62. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $48.14 and its 200 day moving average price is $49.77.

Gaming and Leisure Properties (NASDAQ:GLPI) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 20th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.95 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.94 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $389.62 million for 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, 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 disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th will be issued a $0.76 dividend. This represents a $3.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.19%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. Gaming and Leisure Properties’s dividend payout ratio is currently 105.92%.

Insider Activity at Gaming and Leisure Properties

In other news, SVP Matthew Demchyk sold 1,149 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $47.80, for a total transaction of $54,922.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 91,620 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,379,436. This represents a 1.24 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, COO Brandon John Moore sold 3,982 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $47.84, for a total value of $190,498.88. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 278,634 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $13,329,850.56. This represents a 1.41 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 33,222 shares of company stock valued at $1,624,947 over 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.