Dana Investment Advisors Inc. Acquires 1,825 Shares of Gaming and Leisure Properties, Inc. (NASDAQ:GLPI)

Dana Investment Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Gaming and Leisure Properties, Inc. (NASDAQ:GLPI) by 0.8% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 217,694 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after buying an additional 1,825 shares during the quarter. Dana Investment Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Gaming and Leisure Properties were worth $10,484,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Assetmark Inc. boosted its position in shares of Gaming and Leisure Properties by 2,547.6% in 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 period. Stonebridge Financial Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Gaming and Leisure Properties in the fourth quarter worth approximately $31,000. Farther Finance Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Gaming and Leisure Properties by 142.2% in the third quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 654 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $34,000 after purchasing an additional 384 shares during the period. CKW Financial Group boosted its position 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 worth $34,000 after purchasing an additional 300 shares during the period. Finally, Brooklyn Investment Group bought a new position in shares of Gaming and Leisure Properties in the third quarter worth approximately $39,000. 91.14% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Gaming and Leisure Properties Price Performance

Gaming and Leisure Properties stock opened at $50.40 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $13.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.56, a PEG ratio of 2.01 and a beta of 0.99. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $48.39 and its 200 day moving average is $49.79. The company has a quick ratio of 11.35, a current ratio of 11.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.62. Gaming and Leisure Properties, Inc. has a 52-week low of $41.80 and a 52-week high of $52.60.

Gaming and Leisure Properties (NASDAQ:GLPI) last released its quarterly 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. Gaming and Leisure Properties had a net margin of 51.65% and a return on equity of 17.41%. The company had revenue of $389.62 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $391.54 million. Sell-side analysts forecast that Gaming and Leisure Properties, Inc. will post 3.81 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Gaming and Leisure Properties Dividend Announcement

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 paid a $0.76 dividend. This represents a $3.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.03%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. Gaming and Leisure Properties’s dividend payout ratio is currently 105.92%.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Matthew Demchyk sold 1,149 shares of the 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 sale, 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 ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, COO Brandon John Moore sold 3,982 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $47.84, for a total transaction of $190,498.88. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 278,634 shares in the company, valued at approximately $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 49,161 shares of company stock valued at $2,425,521. 4.37% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have weighed in on GLPI. Morgan Stanley lowered shares of Gaming and Leisure Properties from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and set a $53.00 price target for the company. in a research report on Wednesday, January 15th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised shares of Gaming and Leisure Properties from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $49.00 to $54.00 in a report on Wednesday, November 20th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on shares of Gaming and Leisure Properties from $53.25 to $57.50 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their target price on shares of Gaming and Leisure Properties from $57.00 to $56.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, February 24th. Finally, JMP Securities reissued a “market outperform” rating and issued a $55.00 target price on shares of Gaming and Leisure Properties in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $54.04.

Gaming and Leisure Properties Company 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.