Fort Pitt Capital Group LLC Buys 3,835 Shares of Gaming and Leisure Properties, Inc. (NASDAQ:GLPI)

Fort Pitt Capital Group LLC boosted its stake in shares of Gaming and Leisure Properties, Inc. (NASDAQ:GLPI) by 4.3% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 93,210 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after buying an additional 3,835 shares during the period. Fort Pitt Capital Group LLC’s holdings in Gaming and Leisure Properties were worth $4,796,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Ignite Planners LLC increased its position in Gaming and Leisure Properties by 1.8% during the 2nd quarter. Ignite Planners LLC now owns 12,181 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $543,000 after buying an additional 220 shares in the last quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC increased its position in Gaming and Leisure Properties by 0.7% during the 2nd quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 33,990 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $1,537,000 after buying an additional 220 shares in the last quarter. Ieq Capital LLC increased its position in Gaming and Leisure Properties by 0.3% during the 2nd quarter. Ieq Capital LLC now owns 90,749 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $4,103,000 after buying an additional 257 shares in the last quarter. Marshall Financial Group LLC increased its position in Gaming and Leisure Properties by 1.4% during the 3rd quarter. Marshall Financial Group LLC now owns 20,917 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $1,076,000 after buying an additional 289 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Private Advisor Group LLC increased its position in Gaming and Leisure Properties by 2.7% during the 1st quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 11,440 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $527,000 after buying an additional 299 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 91.14% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Gaming and Leisure Properties

In related news, CFO Desiree A. Burke sold 12,973 shares of Gaming and Leisure Properties 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 transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 108,073 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,621,957.46. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related news, CFO Desiree A. Burke sold 12,973 shares of Gaming and Leisure Properties 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 transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 108,073 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,621,957.46. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, COO Brandon John Moore sold 30,900 shares of Gaming and Leisure Properties stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 208,977 shares in the company, valued at $10,459,298.85. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 56,363 shares of company stock worth $2,840,781. Corporate insiders own 4.37% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently weighed in on GLPI. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price objective on Gaming and Leisure Properties from $52.00 to $53.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, July 29th. Wolfe Research raised Gaming and Leisure Properties from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $57.00 target price for the company in a report on Friday, August 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company reissued an “equal weight” rating and issued a $52.00 target price (up previously from $51.00) on shares of Gaming and Leisure Properties in a report on Tuesday, October 1st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their target price on Gaming and Leisure Properties from $47.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, July 29th. Finally, JMP Securities reissued a “market outperform” rating and issued a $55.00 target price on shares of Gaming and Leisure Properties in a report on Tuesday, October 29th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $52.18.

Gaming and Leisure Properties Stock Performance

GLPI stock opened at $49.82 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $13.67 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.42, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.16 and a beta of 0.99. Gaming and Leisure Properties, Inc. has a 1 year low of $41.80 and a 1 year high of $52.60. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.62, a current ratio of 11.35 and a quick ratio of 11.35. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $51.14 and its 200-day moving average price is $47.69.

Gaming and Leisure Properties (NASDAQ:GLPI) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.67 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.92 by ($0.25). The firm had revenue of $385.34 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $385.09 million. Gaming and Leisure Properties had a return on equity of 17.31% and a net margin of 51.93%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 7.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.92 earnings per share. On average, equities 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 announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 27th. Investors of record on Friday, September 13th were given a dividend of $0.76 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, September 13th. This represents a $3.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.10%. 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.