Atomi Financial Group Inc. Purchases 374 Shares of Gaming and Leisure Properties, Inc. (NASDAQ:GLPI)

Atomi Financial Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Gaming and Leisure Properties, Inc. (NASDAQ:GLPI) by 6.9% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 5,791 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after buying an additional 374 shares during the quarter. Atomi Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Gaming and Leisure Properties were worth $279,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Assetmark Inc. increased its stake in shares of 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 valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 535 shares during the period. Farther Finance Advisors LLC grew its stake 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. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Gaming and Leisure Properties by 578.4% in the second quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 692 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $35,000 after buying an additional 590 shares in the last quarter. Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in Gaming and Leisure Properties by 3,191.3% during the 3rd quarter. Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC now owns 757 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $39,000 after purchasing an additional 734 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Brooklyn Investment Group purchased a new stake in Gaming and Leisure Properties in the 3rd quarter valued at $39,000. Institutional investors own 91.14% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, SVP Matthew Demchyk sold 10,474 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $48.62, for a total transaction of $509,245.88. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 71,757 shares in the company, valued at $3,488,825.34. This trade represents a 12.74 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, COO Brandon John Moore sold 3,982 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $47.84, for a total transaction of $190,498.88. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 278,634 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $13,329,850.56. This represents a 1.41 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 25,490 shares of company stock valued at $1,251,189 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 4.37% of the company’s stock.

Gaming and Leisure Properties Stock Up 0.7 %

Shares of Gaming and Leisure Properties stock opened at $48.11 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $13.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.82, a P/E/G ratio of 1.96 and a beta of 0.99. Gaming and Leisure Properties, Inc. has a 52-week low of $41.80 and a 52-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. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $48.87 and its 200-day moving average price is $49.78.

Gaming and Leisure Properties (NASDAQ:GLPI) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.67 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.92 by ($0.25). Gaming and Leisure Properties had a net margin of 51.93% and a return on equity of 17.31%. 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 previous year, the firm posted $0.92 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.2% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts forecast that Gaming and Leisure Properties, Inc. will post 3.67 EPS for the current year.

Gaming and Leisure Properties Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 20th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 6th were given a dividend of $0.76 per share. This represents a $3.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.32%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 6th. Gaming and Leisure Properties’s dividend payout ratio is currently 106.29%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have weighed in on GLPI. Scotiabank cut their price objective on Gaming and Leisure Properties from $50.00 to $49.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. Barclays assumed coverage on Gaming and Leisure Properties in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $54.53 target price on the stock. Mizuho decreased their target price on shares of Gaming and Leisure Properties from $52.00 to $51.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, November 14th. JMP Securities reaffirmed a “market outperform” rating and issued a $55.00 price target on shares of Gaming and Leisure Properties in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company restated an “equal weight” rating and issued a $52.00 price objective (up from $51.00) on shares of Gaming and Leisure Properties in a research report on Tuesday, October 1st. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $53.93.

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.