Treasurer of the State of North Carolina Acquires 19,673 Shares of Gaming and Leisure Properties, Inc. (NASDAQ:GLPI)

Treasurer of the State of North Carolina raised its stake in shares of Gaming and Leisure Properties, Inc. (NASDAQ:GLPI – Get Rating) by 18.8% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 124,316 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after purchasing an additional 19,673 shares during the quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina’s holdings in Gaming and Leisure Properties were worth $6,476,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of GLPI. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in Gaming and Leisure Properties by 23.2% in the first quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 16,197 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $760,000 after purchasing an additional 3,049 shares in the last quarter. Bank of Montreal Can grew its holdings in Gaming and Leisure Properties by 46.2% in the first quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 123,317 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $5,837,000 after purchasing an additional 38,942 shares during the period. MetLife Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in Gaming and Leisure Properties in the first quarter worth about $219,000. Great West Life Assurance Co. Can grew its holdings in Gaming and Leisure Properties by 41.1% in the first quarter. Great West Life Assurance Co. Can now owns 21,974 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $1,086,000 after purchasing an additional 6,399 shares during the period. Finally, Yousif Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Gaming and Leisure Properties by 22.2% in the first quarter. Yousif Capital Management LLC now owns 14,425 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $677,000 after purchasing an additional 2,620 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.69% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on GLPI shares. Raymond James upped their price objective on shares of Gaming and Leisure Properties from $55.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, April 6th. StockNews.com cut shares of Gaming and Leisure Properties from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, April 28th. Finally, JMP Securities reiterated a “market outperform” rating and set a $57.00 price target on shares of Gaming and Leisure Properties in a report on Tuesday, March 21st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $56.80.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director E Scott Urdang acquired 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 1st. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $53.82 per share, for a total transaction of $53,820.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 150,132 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,080,104.24. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders own 4.60% of the company’s stock.

Gaming and Leisure Properties Stock Down 0.8 %

GLPI opened at $49.10 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 0.08, a quick ratio of 0.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.54. Gaming and Leisure Properties, Inc. has a 1-year low of $42.71 and a 1-year high of $55.13. The company has a market capitalization of $12.88 billion, a PE ratio of 16.87, a PEG ratio of 4.70 and a beta of 0.99. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $51.05 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $51.68.

Gaming and Leisure Properties Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 24th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 10th were given a $0.97 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 9th. This is an increase from Gaming and Leisure Properties’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.71. This represents a $3.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 7.90%. Gaming and Leisure Properties’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 98.97%.

Gaming and Leisure Properties Profile

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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.