KBC Group NV Acquires 60,489 Shares of Gaming and Leisure Properties, Inc. (NASDAQ:GLPI)

KBC Group NV increased its holdings in Gaming and Leisure Properties, Inc. (NASDAQ:GLPI) by 162.8% in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 97,643 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after purchasing an additional 60,489 shares during the period. KBC Group NV’s holdings in Gaming and Leisure Properties were worth $5,024,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its holdings in Gaming and Leisure Properties by 36.7% during the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 2,910,169 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $134,074,000 after purchasing an additional 781,906 shares during the last quarter. DigitalBridge Group Inc. bought a new position in Gaming and Leisure Properties in the 2nd quarter worth $16,936,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its holdings in Gaming and Leisure Properties by 9.3% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 4,104,552 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $185,564,000 after acquiring an additional 350,250 shares during the period. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC boosted its holdings in Gaming and Leisure Properties by 6.6% during the third quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 5,534,033 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $284,726,000 after acquiring an additional 341,492 shares during the period. Finally, National Bank of Canada FI grew its position in shares of Gaming and Leisure Properties by 126.3% in the first quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 454,732 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $20,131,000 after purchasing an additional 253,763 shares during the last quarter. 91.14% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In other Gaming and Leisure Properties news, CFO Desiree A. Burke sold 12,973 shares of Gaming and Leisure Properties stock in a transaction on Friday, August 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $52.02, for a total value of $674,855.46. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 108,073 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,621,957.46. The trade was a 10.72 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director E Scott Urdang sold 6,885 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $50.16, for a total value of $345,351.60. Following the sale, the director now owns 149,800 shares in the company, valued at $7,513,968. The trade was a 4.39 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 53,758 shares of company stock worth $2,717,922. Insiders own 4.37% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

GLPI has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their target price on Gaming and Leisure Properties from $47.00 to $48.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, July 29th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Gaming and Leisure Properties from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, October 28th. JMP Securities reissued a “market outperform” rating and issued a $55.00 price target on shares of Gaming and Leisure Properties in a report on Tuesday, October 29th. Raymond James boosted their price objective on shares of Gaming and Leisure Properties from $50.00 to $53.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 21st. Finally, Wolfe Research upgraded shares of Gaming and Leisure Properties from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $57.00 target price for the company in a research note on Friday, August 23rd. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $52.54.

Gaming and Leisure Properties Price Performance

Shares of GLPI stock opened at $49.19 on Monday. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $50.74 and its 200 day simple moving average is $48.22. Gaming and Leisure Properties, Inc. has a one year low of $41.80 and a one year high of $52.60. The firm has a market cap of $13.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.20, a P/E/G ratio of 2.12 and a beta of 0.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.62, a current ratio of 11.35 and a quick ratio of 11.35.

Gaming and Leisure Properties (NASDAQ:GLPI) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.67 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.92 by ($0.25). The firm had revenue of $385.34 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $385.09 million. Gaming and Leisure Properties had a net margin of 51.93% and a return on equity of 17.31%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.92 EPS. On average, analysts expect that Gaming and Leisure Properties, Inc. will post 3.67 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Gaming and Leisure Properties Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 13th were issued a dividend of $0.76 per share. This represents a $3.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.18%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, September 13th. Gaming and Leisure Properties’s payout ratio is 106.29%.

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.