Raymond James Trust N.A. Grows Stake in Gaming and Leisure Properties, Inc. (NASDAQ:GLPI)

Raymond James Trust N.A. boosted its stake in Gaming and Leisure Properties, Inc. (NASDAQ:GLPI) by 40.9% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 6,708 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after buying an additional 1,948 shares during the quarter. Raymond James Trust N.A.’s holdings in Gaming and Leisure Properties were worth $345,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Gaming and Leisure Properties by 4.8% in the first quarter. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 10,286 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $469,000 after acquiring an additional 470 shares during the last quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System boosted its stake in Gaming and Leisure Properties by 1.7% during the 1st quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 409,511 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $18,866,000 after purchasing an additional 6,810 shares during the last quarter. Burney Co. grew its holdings in shares of Gaming and Leisure Properties by 192.7% during the first quarter. Burney Co. now owns 141,644 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $6,526,000 after buying an additional 93,252 shares in the last quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers raised its position in shares of Gaming and Leisure Properties by 52.8% in the first quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 54,504 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $2,511,000 after buying an additional 18,837 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Soltis Investment Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Gaming and Leisure Properties by 1.3% in the first quarter. Soltis Investment Advisors LLC now owns 66,840 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $3,079,000 after buying an additional 844 shares during the last quarter. 91.14% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently weighed in on GLPI. Mizuho lowered their price target on shares of Gaming and Leisure Properties from $52.00 to $51.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, November 14th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price target on Gaming and Leisure Properties from $53.25 to $57.50 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Raymond James increased their price target on Gaming and Leisure Properties from $50.00 to $53.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 21st. 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 Tuesday, October 29th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded Gaming and Leisure Properties from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, October 28th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $53.32.

Gaming and Leisure Properties Trading Up 1.0 %

NASDAQ GLPI opened at $51.66 on Thursday. Gaming and Leisure Properties, Inc. has a one year low of $41.80 and a one year high of $52.60. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $50.55 and a 200-day simple moving average of $48.56. The firm has a market cap of $14.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.09, a PEG ratio of 2.18 and a beta of 0.99. 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 issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.67 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.92 by ($0.25). Gaming and Leisure Properties had a net margin of 51.93% and a return on equity of 17.31%. The business had revenue of $385.34 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $385.09 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.92 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 7.2% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts anticipate that Gaming and Leisure Properties, Inc. will post 3.67 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Gaming and Leisure Properties Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 20th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 6th will be issued a dividend of $0.76 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 6th. This represents a $3.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.88%. Gaming and Leisure Properties’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 106.29%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Gaming and Leisure Properties

In related news, Director E Scott Urdang sold 6,885 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $50.16, for a total transaction of $345,351.60. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 149,800 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,513,968. This represents a 4.39 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CFO Desiree A. Burke sold 12,973 shares of Gaming and Leisure Properties stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $52.02, for a total transaction of $674,855.46. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 108,073 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,621,957.46. This represents a 10.72 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 22,858 shares of company stock valued at $1,171,377 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 4.37% of the company’s stock.

Gaming and Leisure Properties Company Profile

GLPI is engaged in the business of acquiring, financing, and owning real estate property to be leased to gaming operators in triple-net lease arrangements, pursuant to which the tenant is responsible for all facility maintenance, insurance required in connection with the leased properties and the business conducted on the leased properties, taxes levied on or with respect to the leased properties and all utilities and other services necessary or appropriate for the leased properties and the business conducted on the leased properties.