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

Victory Capital Management Inc. lifted its position in Gaming and Leisure Properties, Inc. (NASDAQ:GLPI) by 1.9% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 632,358 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after purchasing an additional 11,595 shares during the period. Victory Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Gaming and Leisure Properties were worth $31,207,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC raised its holdings in shares of Gaming and Leisure Properties by 15.2% in the 3rd quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 22,433 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $1,022,000 after acquiring an additional 2,957 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. raised its stake in Gaming and Leisure Properties by 2.4% in the third quarter. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. now owns 67,917 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $3,094,000 after purchasing an additional 1,623 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its stake in Gaming and Leisure Properties by 78.5% in the third quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 2,906,793 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $132,404,000 after purchasing an additional 1,278,566 shares in the last quarter. New York State Teachers Retirement System lifted its holdings in shares of Gaming and Leisure Properties by 670.2% during the 3rd quarter. New York State Teachers Retirement System now owns 167,819 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $7,644,000 after acquiring an additional 146,030 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank lifted its stake in Gaming and Leisure Properties by 1.7% during the third quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 116,226 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $5,294,000 after purchasing an additional 1,912 shares during the last quarter. 91.14% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Gaming and Leisure Properties news, Director E Scott Urdang bought 2,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 1st. The stock was acquired at an average price of $45.00 per share, with a total value of $112,500.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now owns 156,685 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,050,825. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 4.40% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Gaming and Leisure Properties Stock Up 1.3 %

GLPI stock opened at $44.20 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $12.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.31, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.08 and a beta of 0.95. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.49, a quick ratio of 6.47 and a current ratio of 6.47. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $44.58 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $45.72. Gaming and Leisure Properties, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $41.80 and a fifty-two week high of $51.43.

Gaming and Leisure Properties (NASDAQ:GLPI) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, April 26th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.64 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.90 by ($0.26). The firm had revenue of $376.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $368.44 million. Gaming and Leisure Properties had a return on equity of 16.79% and a net margin of 50.05%. Gaming and Leisure Properties’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.92 earnings per share. As a group, analysts forecast that Gaming and Leisure Properties, Inc. will post 3.66 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Gaming and Leisure Properties Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 29th. Investors of record on Friday, March 15th were given a dividend of $0.76 per share. This is a boost from Gaming and Leisure Properties’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.73. This represents a $3.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.88%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 14th. Gaming and Leisure Properties’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 112.18%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on GLPI shares. Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on shares of Gaming and Leisure Properties from $55.00 to $53.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, March 21st. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price target on shares of Gaming and Leisure Properties from $49.00 to $47.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 29th. Mizuho decreased their price objective on shares of Gaming and Leisure Properties from $50.00 to $47.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, March 7th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Gaming and Leisure Properties from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 1st. Finally, JMP Securities restated a “market outperform” rating and set a $53.00 price target on shares of Gaming and Leisure Properties in a report on Monday, March 4th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $51.91.

Gaming and Leisure Properties 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.