Plato Investment Management Ltd Invests $662,000 in Gaming and Leisure Properties, Inc. (NASDAQ:GLPI)

Plato Investment Management Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Gaming and Leisure Properties, Inc. (NASDAQ:GLPI) in the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor purchased 14,647 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock, valued at approximately $662,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its stake in shares of Gaming and Leisure Properties by 40.8% during the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 12,709,300 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $627,204,000 after buying an additional 3,684,553 shares during the period. Putnam Investments LLC grew its stake in Gaming and Leisure Properties by 3.1% in the fourth quarter. Putnam Investments LLC now owns 9,511,521 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $469,394,000 after purchasing an additional 282,828 shares in the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC increased its position in Gaming and Leisure Properties by 4.0% in the 1st quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 5,489,160 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $252,886,000 after purchasing an additional 211,709 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its stake in shares of Gaming and Leisure Properties by 36.7% during the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 2,910,169 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $134,074,000 after purchasing an additional 781,906 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Gaming and Leisure Properties during the 4th quarter worth about $141,537,000. 91.14% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

GLPI has been the topic of a number of research reports. Morgan Stanley restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $53.00 price objective on shares of Gaming and Leisure Properties in a report on Friday, June 21st. JMP Securities increased their price target on shares of Gaming and Leisure Properties from $53.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a “market outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, August 12th. Wolfe Research upgraded shares of Gaming and Leisure Properties from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $57.00 price target on the stock in a report on Friday, August 23rd. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on shares of Gaming and Leisure Properties from $52.00 to $52.50 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, July 26th. Finally, Raymond James increased their target price on shares of Gaming and Leisure Properties from $50.00 to $53.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 21st. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $52.11.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director E Scott Urdang sold 5,605 shares of the company’s 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 completion of the transaction, the director now owns 156,685 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,660,329.65. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In related news, Director E Scott Urdang sold 5,605 shares of Gaming and Leisure Properties stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $48.89, for a total transaction of $274,028.45. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 156,685 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,660,329.65. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, COO Brandon John Moore sold 30,900 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $50.05, for a total value of $1,546,545.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 208,977 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,459,298.85. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 49,478 shares of company stock worth $2,495,429 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 4.40% of the company’s stock.

Gaming and Leisure Properties Trading Down 0.9 %

Gaming and Leisure Properties stock opened at $51.62 on Monday. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $49.68 and its 200-day simple moving average is $46.34. Gaming and Leisure Properties, Inc. has a 52 week low of $41.80 and a 52 week high of $52.60. The firm has a market capitalization of $14.01 billion, a PE ratio of 19.05, a PEG ratio of 5.47 and a beta of 0.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.49, a quick ratio of 5.91 and a current ratio of 5.91.

Gaming and Leisure Properties (NASDAQ:GLPI) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 25th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.77 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.92 by ($0.15). Gaming and Leisure Properties had a return on equity of 17.60% and a net margin of 52.79%. 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 earned $0.92 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 6.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts forecast that Gaming and Leisure Properties, Inc. will post 3.67 earnings per share for the current year.

Gaming and Leisure Properties Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 27th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 13th will be issued a $0.76 dividend. This represents a $3.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.89%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 13th. Gaming and Leisure Properties’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 112.18%.

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.