Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. Purchases 96,028 Shares of Gaming and Leisure Properties, Inc. (NASDAQ:GLPI)

Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Gaming and Leisure Properties, Inc. (NASDAQ:GLPI) by 3.0% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 3,327,466 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after buying an additional 96,028 shares during the quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. owned approximately 1.21% of Gaming and Leisure Properties worth $171,198,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Thompson Siegel & Walmsley LLC grew its position in Gaming and Leisure Properties by 11.3% during the 3rd quarter. Thompson Siegel & Walmsley LLC now owns 1,258,459 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $64,748,000 after acquiring an additional 127,933 shares during the last quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Gaming and Leisure Properties by 182.2% during the third quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 3,214 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $165,000 after purchasing an additional 2,075 shares during the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC lifted its position in Gaming and Leisure Properties by 25.3% during the 3rd quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 4,075,461 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $209,682,000 after buying an additional 821,634 shares in the last quarter. Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC acquired a new stake in Gaming and Leisure Properties in the 3rd quarter valued at about $693,000. Finally, B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. Holding AG bought a new position in shares of Gaming and Leisure Properties in the third quarter worth about $311,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 91.14% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director E Scott Urdang sold 6,885 shares of the firm’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 completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 149,800 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,513,968. This trade represents a 4.39 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available 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 shares were sold at an average price of $52.02, for a total transaction of $674,855.46. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 108,073 shares in the company, valued at $5,621,957.46. This trade represents a 10.72 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 22,858 shares of company stock worth $1,171,377. 4.37% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Wolfe Research upgraded shares of Gaming and Leisure Properties from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $57.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Friday, August 23rd. Mizuho lowered their price objective on Gaming and Leisure Properties from $52.00 to $51.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, November 14th. JMP Securities reissued a “market outperform” rating and set a $55.00 price objective on shares of Gaming and Leisure Properties in a report on Tuesday, October 29th. Wells Fargo & Company reiterated an “equal weight” rating and set a $52.00 price target (up previously from $51.00) on shares of Gaming and Leisure Properties in a research report on Tuesday, October 1st. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on shares of Gaming and Leisure Properties from $52.00 to $53.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, July 29th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $52.96.

Gaming and Leisure Properties Price Performance

Shares of GLPI opened at $50.92 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.62, a quick ratio of 11.35 and a current ratio of 11.35. The firm has a market capitalization of $13.97 billion, a PE ratio of 17.80, a P/E/G ratio of 2.15 and a beta of 0.99. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $50.56 and a 200 day simple moving average of $48.46. 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 issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 24th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.67 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.92 by ($0.25). Gaming and Leisure Properties had a return on equity of 17.31% and a net margin of 51.93%. The company had revenue of $385.34 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $385.09 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.92 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 7.2% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts predict that Gaming and Leisure Properties, Inc. will post 3.67 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Gaming and Leisure Properties Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 13th were issued a $0.76 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, September 13th. This represents a $3.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.97%. Gaming and Leisure Properties’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 106.29%.

About Gaming and Leisure Properties

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.