QRG Capital Management Inc. Purchases 5,127 Shares of Gaming and Leisure Properties, Inc. (NASDAQ:GLPI)

QRG Capital Management Inc. increased its position in Gaming and Leisure Properties, Inc. (NASDAQ:GLPI) by 3.5% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 152,426 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after buying an additional 5,127 shares during the quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Gaming and Leisure Properties were worth $7,341,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Assetmark Inc. boosted its holdings in 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 acquiring an additional 535 shares in the last quarter. Stonebridge Financial Group LLC bought a new position in Gaming and Leisure Properties in the fourth quarter valued at about $31,000. Farther Finance Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in 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 valued at $34,000 after acquiring an additional 384 shares during the period. CKW Financial Group lifted its holdings in 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 valued at $34,000 after acquiring an additional 300 shares during the period. Finally, Brooklyn Investment Group bought a new position in Gaming and Leisure Properties in the third quarter valued at about $39,000. Institutional investors own 91.14% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have commented on GLPI. Scotiabank reduced their price target on Gaming and Leisure Properties from $50.00 to $49.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price target on Gaming and Leisure Properties from $57.00 to $56.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, February 24th. Morgan Stanley lowered Gaming and Leisure Properties from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and set a $53.00 price objective for the company. in a research note on Wednesday, January 15th. JMP Securities reaffirmed a “market outperform” rating and issued a $55.00 price objective on shares of Gaming and Leisure Properties in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised Gaming and Leisure Properties from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $49.00 to $54.00 in a research note on Wednesday, November 20th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Gaming and Leisure Properties currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $54.15.

Gaming and Leisure Properties Trading Up 0.5 %

Shares of NASDAQ:GLPI opened at $50.15 on Friday. Gaming and Leisure Properties, Inc. has a 12-month low of $41.80 and a 12-month high of $52.60. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $48.25 and its 200-day simple moving average is $49.77. The company has a market capitalization of $13.78 billion, a PE ratio of 17.47, a P/E/G 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.

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 (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 the consensus estimate of $391.54 million. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Gaming and Leisure Properties, Inc. will post 3.81 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Gaming and Leisure Properties Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th will be paid a dividend of $0.76 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $3.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.06%. Gaming and Leisure Properties’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 105.92%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Gaming and Leisure Properties news, SVP Matthew Demchyk sold 1,149 shares of Gaming and Leisure Properties stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the senior vice president now owns 91,620 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,379,436. The trade was a 1.24 % decrease in their position. 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 Gaming and Leisure Properties stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $47.84, for a total value of $190,498.88. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 278,634 shares of the company’s stock, 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. Insiders have sold a total of 38,222 shares of company stock worth $1,873,547 in the last ninety days. 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.