Securian Asset Management Inc. Lowers Stock Position in Gaming and Leisure Properties, Inc. (NASDAQ:GLPI)

Securian Asset Management Inc. cut its position in shares of Gaming and Leisure Properties, Inc. (NASDAQ:GLPI) by 2.8% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 20,743 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 593 shares during the quarter. Securian Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Gaming and Leisure Properties were worth $999,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in GLPI. Farther Finance Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Gaming and Leisure Properties by 142.2% during the third quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 654 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $34,000 after buying an additional 384 shares in the last quarter. Assetmark Inc. lifted its holdings in Gaming and Leisure Properties by 2,547.6% during the third quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 556 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 535 shares in the last quarter. Atria Investments Inc lifted its holdings in Gaming and Leisure Properties by 16.0% during the third quarter. Atria Investments Inc now owns 19,668 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $1,012,000 after purchasing an additional 2,710 shares in the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Gaming and Leisure Properties by 0.6% during the third quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 798,922 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $41,105,000 after purchasing an additional 5,037 shares in the last quarter. Finally, KBC Group NV lifted its holdings in Gaming and Leisure Properties by 162.8% during the third quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 97,643 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $5,024,000 after purchasing an additional 60,489 shares in the last quarter. 91.14% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

GLPI has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised shares of Gaming and Leisure Properties from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $49.00 to $54.00 in a report on Wednesday, November 20th. Barclays decreased their price objective on shares of Gaming and Leisure Properties from $55.00 to $53.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their price objective 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. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price objective on shares of Gaming and Leisure Properties from $53.25 to $57.50 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. Finally, Scotiabank decreased their price objective on shares of Gaming and Leisure Properties from $50.00 to $49.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 16th. 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, Gaming and Leisure Properties has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $53.96.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, SVP Matthew Demchyk sold 1,149 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 directly 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 transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director E Scott Urdang sold 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $50.89, for a total transaction of $254,450.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 140,953 shares in the company, valued at $7,173,098.17. This trade represents a 3.43 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 56,064 shares of company stock valued at $2,778,908 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 4.37% of the company’s stock.

Gaming and Leisure Properties Price Performance

Shares of GLPI stock opened at $49.78 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.62, a current ratio of 11.35 and a quick ratio of 11.35. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $48.71 and its two-hundred day moving average is $49.81. Gaming and Leisure Properties, Inc. has a 12 month low of $41.80 and a 12 month high of $52.60. The company has a market capitalization of $13.68 billion, a PE ratio of 17.35, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.01 and a beta of 1.00.

Gaming and Leisure Properties (NASDAQ:GLPI) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.95 EPS for the quarter, topping 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. Analysts predict 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 announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be paid a dividend of $0.76 per share. This represents a $3.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.11%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. Gaming and Leisure Properties’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 105.92%.

Gaming and Leisure Properties Profile

Gaming & Leisure Properties, Inc engages in the provision of 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.