M&T Bank Corp Decreases Position in Gaming and Leisure Properties, Inc. (NASDAQ:GLPI)

M&T Bank Corp lowered its stake in Gaming and Leisure Properties, Inc. (NASDAQ:GLPI) by 2.4% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 38,944 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 942 shares during the quarter. M&T Bank Corp’s holdings in Gaming and Leisure Properties were worth $1,876,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its position in Gaming and Leisure Properties by 7.8% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 12,259,224 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $641,059,000 after acquiring an additional 889,698 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its stake in shares of Gaming and Leisure Properties by 1.4% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 12,135,195 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $624,356,000 after purchasing an additional 162,484 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Gaming and Leisure Properties by 2.7% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 6,080,860 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $312,316,000 after purchasing an additional 161,689 shares in the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC grew its holdings in Gaming and Leisure Properties by 5.2% during the 4th quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 4,287,118 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $206,468,000 after purchasing an additional 211,657 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in Gaming and Leisure Properties by 3.0% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,327,466 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $171,198,000 after buying an additional 96,028 shares during the period. 91.14% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Gaming and Leisure Properties news, SVP Matthew Demchyk sold 17,617 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $49.40, for a total value of $870,279.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 54,140 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,674,516. This represents a 24.55 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director E Scott Urdang sold 5,000 shares of Gaming and Leisure Properties stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 25th. The shares were 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 49,161 shares of company stock valued at $2,425,521 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 4.37% of the company’s stock.

Gaming and Leisure Properties Price Performance

GLPI opened at $50.61 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 11.35, a current ratio of 11.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.62. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $48.53 and its 200 day moving average price is $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 firm has a market cap of $13.91 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.63, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.01 and a beta of 1.00.

Gaming and Leisure Properties (NASDAQ:GLPI) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.95 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 business had revenue of $389.62 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $391.54 million. As a group, sell-side 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 company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be issued a dividend of $0.76 per share. This represents a $3.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.01%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. Gaming and Leisure Properties’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 105.92%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

GLPI has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised shares of Gaming and Leisure Properties from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $49.00 to $54.00 in a research report on Wednesday, November 20th. Barclays reduced their price target on Gaming and Leisure Properties from $55.00 to $53.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price objective on 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. Morgan Stanley cut Gaming and Leisure Properties from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and set a $53.00 target price for the company. in a research note on Wednesday, January 15th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded shares of Gaming and Leisure Properties from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $49.00 to $54.00 in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $54.04.

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.