Raymond James Trust N.A. Increases Stake in Gaming and Leisure Properties, Inc. (NASDAQ:GLPI)

Raymond James Trust N.A. increased its holdings in Gaming and Leisure Properties, Inc. (NASDAQ:GLPI) by 40.9% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 6,708 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,948 shares during the quarter. Raymond James Trust N.A.’s holdings in Gaming and Leisure Properties were worth $345,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Jennison Associates LLC increased its holdings in shares of Gaming and Leisure Properties by 25.3% in the 3rd quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 4,075,461 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $209,682,000 after acquiring an additional 821,634 shares during the period. DigitalBridge Group Inc. purchased a new position in Gaming and Leisure Properties in the second quarter valued at about $16,936,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its holdings in Gaming and Leisure Properties by 9.3% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 4,104,552 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $185,564,000 after purchasing an additional 350,250 shares in the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC raised its holdings in Gaming and Leisure Properties by 6.6% in the third quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 5,534,033 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $284,726,000 after purchasing an additional 341,492 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James & Associates lifted its position in shares of Gaming and Leisure Properties by 46.9% during the third quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 580,315 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $29,857,000 after buying an additional 185,348 shares during the last quarter. 91.14% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Gaming and Leisure Properties

In other Gaming and Leisure Properties news, CFO Desiree A. Burke sold 12,973 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $52.02, for a total transaction of $674,855.46. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 108,073 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,621,957.46. This represents a 10.72 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. 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 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 value of $345,351.60. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 149,800 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,513,968. The trade was a 4.39 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 22,858 shares of company stock worth $1,171,377. 4.37% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts recently commented 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 note on Friday, August 23rd. StockNews.com lowered Gaming and Leisure Properties from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, October 28th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on Gaming and Leisure Properties from $53.25 to $57.50 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Raymond James upped their target price on Gaming and Leisure Properties from $50.00 to $53.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 21st. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded Gaming and Leisure Properties from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $49.00 to $54.00 in a research note on Wednesday, November 20th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Gaming and Leisure Properties presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $53.32.

Gaming and Leisure Properties Price Performance

Shares of GLPI opened at $51.66 on Thursday. The business’s 50-day moving average is $50.55 and its two-hundred day moving average is $48.56. The company has a market capitalization of $14.17 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.09, a P/E/G ratio of 2.18 and a beta of 0.99. Gaming and Leisure Properties, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $41.80 and a fifty-two week high of $52.60. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.62, a quick ratio of 11.35 and a current ratio of 11.35.

Gaming and Leisure Properties (NASDAQ:GLPI) last posted 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). 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 analyst estimates of $385.09 million. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.92 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 7.2% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts predict that Gaming and Leisure Properties, Inc. will post 3.67 earnings per share for the current year.

Gaming and Leisure Properties Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 20th. Investors of record on Friday, December 6th will be issued a dividend of $0.76 per share. This represents a $3.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.88%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 6th. Gaming and Leisure Properties’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.