AdvisorShares Investments LLC Sells 1,046 Shares of Gaming and Leisure Properties, Inc. (NASDAQ:GLPI)

AdvisorShares Investments LLC cut its holdings in Gaming and Leisure Properties, Inc. (NASDAQ:GLPI) by 11.6% in the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 8,001 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 1,046 shares during the period. AdvisorShares Investments LLC’s holdings in Gaming and Leisure Properties were worth $353,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of GLPI. Private Advisor Group LLC lifted its position in shares of Gaming and Leisure Properties by 33.5% in the fourth quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 11,141 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $550,000 after buying an additional 2,796 shares during the last quarter. Principal Securities Inc. bought a new position in shares of Gaming and Leisure Properties in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $442,000. BNP Paribas Financial Markets lifted its holdings in Gaming and Leisure Properties by 6.6% in the 4th quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 221,624 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $10,937,000 after purchasing an additional 13,747 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its position in Gaming and Leisure Properties by 1.2% during the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,730,590 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $184,106,000 after purchasing an additional 45,729 shares during the period. Finally, Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. grew its holdings in Gaming and Leisure Properties by 1.0% during the fourth quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 274,902 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $13,495,000 after purchasing an additional 2,770 shares during the last quarter. 91.14% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

GLPI has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of Gaming and Leisure Properties from $56.00 to $61.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 16th. Raymond James upped their price target on shares of Gaming and Leisure Properties from $50.00 to $53.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 21st. Wolfe Research upgraded Gaming and Leisure Properties from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $57.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Friday, August 23rd. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on Gaming and Leisure Properties from $52.00 to $52.50 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, July 26th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their target price on Gaming and Leisure Properties from $47.00 to $48.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, July 29th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $52.11.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Gaming and Leisure Properties news, CFO Desiree A. Burke sold 12,973 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 108,073 shares in the company, valued at $5,621,957.46. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other news, CFO Desiree A. Burke sold 12,973 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $52.02, for a total value of $674,855.46. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 108,073 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,621,957.46. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director E Scott Urdang sold 5,605 shares of Gaming and Leisure Properties stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $48.89, for a total transaction of $274,028.45. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 156,685 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,660,329.65. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 49,478 shares of company stock worth $2,495,429 in the last 90 days. 4.40% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Gaming and Leisure Properties Stock Down 0.2 %

GLPI opened at $52.23 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $14.18 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.27, a P/E/G ratio of 5.39 and a beta of 0.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.49, a current ratio of 5.91 and a quick ratio of 5.91. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $49.38 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $46.23. Gaming and Leisure Properties, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $41.80 and a fifty-two week high of $52.60.

Gaming and Leisure Properties (NASDAQ:GLPI) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, July 25th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.77 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.92 by ($0.15). Gaming and Leisure Properties had a net margin of 52.79% and a return on equity of 17.60%. The business had revenue of $380.60 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $377.95 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.92 earnings per share. Gaming and Leisure Properties’s revenue was up 6.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts anticipate that Gaming and Leisure Properties, Inc. will post 3.67 EPS for the current year.

Gaming and Leisure Properties Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 13th will be issued a $0.76 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 13th. This represents a $3.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.82%. Gaming and Leisure Properties’s payout ratio is presently 112.18%.

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.